The State Security Service of Georgia [SSSG] releases information about the investigation carried out against the organization “Canvas”.

“In the interests of state security and peaceful coexistence of citizens, we would like to inform the public that, according to the information received within the framework of the ongoing investigation at the State Security Service, on September 25, 2023, Serbian citizens Sinisa Sikman, Jelena Stoisic and Slobodan Jinovic arrived in Georgia at the invitation of the East-West Management Institute of the USAID program.

The mentioned persons are related to the revolutionary events that took place in Georgia in 2003, and in different years they were also connected with similar processes in Serbia, Ukraine, and other states. They were actively involved in teaching the methods of creating protest drives and the tactics of conducting violent actions. They represent the management link of the “Canvas” organization. Also, Sikman and Jinovic are former members of the organization “Otpor”, which was an analogue of the Georgian organization “Kmara” in Serbia.

The organization “Canvas”, the core of which is the organization “Otpor”, is being used to prepare youth groups for the revolutionary scenario planned in October-December, 2023, in Georgia. The mentioned organizations have some practical experience in terms of participation in the revolutionary processes developed in foreign countries and in teaching how to organize violent protests.

The stated reason for the arrival of the mentioned persons in Georgia was to conduct trainings for groups working in the field of culture in the issues of “strategic non-violent fight”, but the investigation established that the purpose of their arrival in Georgia was not the only one. The real purpose of the visit was to establish communication and conduct trainings with those young people and influential non-governmental organizations, which should become the core of destructive actions and illegal actions planned in Georgia in October-December.

In the period of September 26-29, 2023, in the hotel “Ibis” located in Tbilisi, the training of representatives of NGOs and civil activists, in particular, one of the large groups, which should play a decisive role in the preparation and implementation of the processes of overthrowing the Government by violent means, was being held by them.

These individuals were trained on how to act against target groups, namely the government, the Orthodox Church, the SSSG and other agencies, as well as on the techniques of creating pickets and artificial traffic jams on the roads and setting up tents in front of administrative buildings, how to create tension in the power structures, what violent response should be given to their legal demands.

The trainees were prepared for the process of expected arrests and were trained on the methods of resisting in such a time, the issues of financing the participants of the rally, the invasion of the parliament building, the disconnection of the broadcasting stations and the seizure of power, the overthrow of the legally elected government of Georgia, during which they brought a number of dramatic examples in Serbia for a comparative analysis.

On September 29, Sikman, Stoisic and Jinovic were interrogated by the investigators of the SSSG in the presence of lawyers and translators, during which they tried to disguise the real reason for their stay in Georgia in order to avoid the expected criminal liability. Their testimonies contradict the evidence obtained by the investigation, are contradictory in some details.

On September 30, 2023, Sinisa Sikman, Jelena Stojsic and Slobodan Jinovic left Georgia for Belgrade.

We present to you part of the evidence obtained as a result of the secret investigative action against Sikman, Stojsic and Djinovic, conducted on the basis of the judge"s ruling, which was declassified by the prosecutor due to the growing public interest in the case.

Here, we remind the public once again that the State Security Service issued a statement on the destructive plans of the “Canvas” organization on September 18, 2023. At present, active investigation and operative-search measures are being carried out in the case in order to expose perpetrators and prevent crimes against the state.

On September 26-29, the USAID-funded conference was organized by “Canvas-Georgia” and the East-West Management Institute. During the four-day training, the representatives of the mentioned organizations and the so-called civil activists were present”, - says the SSSG.