Adjara Police Chief Grigol Beselia Resigns Amid Local Government Reshuffle
Grigol Beselia, the police chief of the Adjara Autonomous Republic, resigned on April 4, the Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed to Civil.ge. He will be replaced by Giorgi Bukharishvili.
Before his appointment, Bukharishvili served as the director of the Samtskhe-Javakheti Police Department in 2023. According to reports from TV Pirveli, he was one of the police spokespersons during the previous government and led the special operation to arrest former President Mikheil Saakashvili on October 1, 2021.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs told Civil.ge that department heads are periodically rotated “to further increase the efficiency of police activities”. However, it remains unclear what position Beselia will hold next as part of the rotation.
Beselia was appointed as Adjara’s Police Chief on February 21, 2022, replacing Avtandil Galdava. Before taking the post, he led the Vake-Saburtalo division at the Tbilisi Police Department and previously served as the chief of the Interior Ministry’s Regional Main Division in the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region in 2013. Beselia is sanctioned by Estonia and Lithuania.
In recent developments, Beselia was involved in the case of Mzia Amaghlobeli, director of the Batumelebi/Netgazeti publication. According to the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), video footage showed Beselia detaining Amaghlobeli for placing a sticker on a police fence. GYLA has called for criminal charges against Beselia and other officers involved, alleging unlawful detention.
Beselia’s resignation comes amid a broader reshuffling within the ruling Georgian Dream party. Earlier in the day, Tornike Rizhvadze announced his resignation as head of the local government of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara. Additionally, the Georgian Dream government reversed its decision to appoint State Security Service head Grigol Liluashvili as Minister of Regional Development, with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze instead naming Kakhaber Guledani to the position.
Anri Okhanashvili was appointed as the new head of the State Security Service of Georgia, replacing Liluashvili. Okhanashvili previously served as Minister of Justice and chaired Parliament’s Legal Issues Committee.
Also Read:
- 04/04/2025 – GD Drops Security Chief Liluashvili as Minister Pick
- 04/04/2025 – Adjara Region’s Head of Government Tornike Rizhvadze Resigns
- 12/02/2025 – GYLA: Legal Team to File Petition to Lift Pre-Trial Detention of Mzia Amaghlobeli
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