Former Ivanishvili Aide Bachiashvili Says He Left Georgia
Giorgi Bachiashvili, a former aide to Bidzina Ivanishvili, wrote on social media today, March 4, that he was “forced to leave Georgia.” Bachiashvili, against whom prosecutors have filed two separate lawsuits, says he could be imprisoned in Georgia.
He says the charges against him are “fabricated” and that he is the subject of “political persecution” and “extortion.” Bachiashvili blames Bidzina Ivanishvili, the country’s informal billionaire ruler, and several members of the judiciary, including Judge George Gelashvili, Chairman of Tbilisi Court of Appeals Mikheil Chinchaladze, High Council of Justice member Levan Murusidze, Prosecutor General Giorgi Gabitashvili, and Prosecutor Mikheil Sadradze.
“This is not a legal system where truth prevails, nor one where rights are protected – especially for those like me who have been deliberately targeted by Bidzina Ivanishvili and his corrupt machinery,” he says.
“Furthermore, I have received credible information regarding threats to my safety—threats that, in today’s Georgia, carry deadly weight. In prison, I would be left absolutely defenseless, face to face with Ivanishvili’s executioners…in the very prison where Ivanishvili threatened to crush me,” He adds.
Bachiashvili says his decision to leave is not an act of “surrender” but a “strategic one.” “I can contribute far more to this battle from outside a prison cell than within one,” he says.
Bachiashvili was previously Ivanishvili’s aide and financial advisor before falling out of favor in late 2022. In 2023, he was charged with allegedly embezzling a large amount of bitcoins and ordered to pay GEL 2.5 million (USD 898,000) and banned from leaving Georgia. Last week, prosecutors opened a new case against him, accusing him of negligence when he took the post of general director of Ivanishvili’s co-investment fund. The court ordered him to pay a bail of GEL 50,000 (about USD 18,000) and again barred from leaving the country. In both trials, Bachiashvili claimed that he was being politically persecuted.
On March 5, the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that it had opened an investigation against Giorgi Bachiashvili for alleged illegal crossing of the state border on March 2. According to the MIA statement, it has been determined that Bachiashvili “bypassing the border checkpoint, secretly crossed into Armenia using a special hiding place in his car. At the Armenian border checkpoint, he then presented another passport issued in his name confirming his citizenship of the Russian Federation and crossed the border.”
Tbilisi City Court Judge Davit Kurtanidze sentenced Giorgi Bachiashvili to pre-trial detention in absentia.
On March 6, the Ministry of Internal Affairs detained Shota Karumidze for allegedly assisting Giorgi Bachiashvili in illegally crossing Georgia’s state border. The following day, Tbilisi City Court, presided over by Judge Irakli Khuskivadze, ordered Karumidze to be placed in pretrial detention. During the hearing, the prosecutor alleged that Bachiashvili paid Karumidze $30,000 to facilitate his escape from the country.
NOTE: This news article was updated at 5:20 p.m. on March 5 to include MIA’s statement on the start of the investigation and at 6:10 p.m. to include the Tbilisi City Court’s decision. It was also updated on March 7, at 6:15 p.m. to incorporate the detention of Shota Karumidze and Court’s ruling to place him in pretrial detention.
Also Read:
- 24/01/2025 – Ivanishvili’s Former Investment Fund Manager Claims Political Persecution in Court
- 26/10/2024 – Interview with Giorgi Bachiashvili, Former Head of Ivanishvili’s Co-Investment Fund
- 24/07/2023 – Report: Why Does Ivanishvili Prosecute His Former Financial Prodigy?
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