Ex-Prison Agency Official Arrested on Allegations of Staging Bachiashvili Beating

Georgia’s State Security Service (SSSG) said on October 9 that it arrested Giorgi Kemoklidze, the former deputy director of the Penitentiary Department of the Special Penitentiary Service, on allegations of staging the beating of Giorgi Bachiashvili, a jailed ex-associate of Bidzina Ivanishvili, in his prison cell.

The announcement came a day after Davit Gogoberishvili, former chief of Tbilisi’s Gldani No. 8 penitentiary facility, where Bachiashvili was reportedly beaten in July, was found dead, in what authorities are investigating as an incitement to suicide. Gogoberishvili and Kemoklidze quit their posts after the Special Penitentiary Service said Bachiashvili’s beating in July may have been coordinated between prison staff, inmates, and Bachiashvili himself.

The agency did not mention Gogoberishvili during the briefing. Kemoklidze was charged with abuse of official power, under Article 332 of the Georgian Criminal Code.

According to Lasha Maghradze, deputy head of the State Security Service (SSSG), Kemoklidze first placed two inmates, without officially registering them, in Bachiashvili’s cell to stage his beating, an attempt that failed. Maghradze said Kemoklidze then placed another inmate in the cell, with whom Bachiashvili initiated an argument that resulted in a “minor physical confrontation.” Investigators claim the operation was intended to substantiate Bachiashvili’s allegations of being attacked in prison and to be later used for domestic and international legal purposes, including a case before the European Court of Human Rights.

Officials said both Kemoklidze and Bachiashvili concealed key details from investigators and the public, including by disabling surveillance cameras and deleting relevant footage from inside the cells.

“Up until yesterday, in the multi-volume criminal case, none of the witnesses had ever mentioned the ten-day placement of the two prisoners,” the agency noted.

The SSSG briefing followed earlier reports from July 11, when Bachiashvili claimed in a public letter that he had been beaten in what he called a “coordinated activity between the prison administration and criminals.” The Special Penitentiary Service later disputed his version, suggesting that Bachiashvili himself, along with prison staff and inmates, may have orchestrated the incident. Bezhan Obgaidze, the head of the penitentiary service, also resigned “with a personal statement” amid the investigation into the incident.

Bachiashvili is serving an 11-year prison sentence after being convicted of embezzling a large sum of cryptocurrency from Bidzina Ivanishvili and laundering it. He was arrested in May following what he said was his abduction from abroad involving State Security Service head Anri Okhanashvili. The alleged abduction followed his escape from Georgia in March, when Bachiashvili cited “credible information” suggesting his life would be in danger if imprisoned.

Also Read:

• 30/09/2025 – Court Sentences Bachiashvili to 4.5 Years for Illegal Border Crossing
• 29/09/2025 – Parents of Jailed Bachiashvili Charged with Helping Launder Embezzled Funds
• 23/08/2025 – Prison Agency Chief Resigns Amid Bachiashvili Beating Investigation
  

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