Deputy Justice, Interior Ministers Dismissed
Deputy Justice Minister Irakli Khmaladze and Deputy Interior Minister Giorgi Butkhuzi were dismissed from their posts under Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s November 10 decrees.
Another decree by Kobakhidze appointed Giorgi Sakhokia as a new deputy to Georgian Dream Interior Minister Geka Geladze.
Irakli Khmaladze, 43, has served as Deputy Justice Minister under Georgian Dream’s Paata Salia for six months, since May 15, 2025. Since 2017, he has been Tbilisi’s vice mayor. His career in the public sector began in 2008.
A 2024 journalistic investigation by Studio Monitor alleged that Irakli Khmaladze failed to declare high-value properties. His latest asset declaration, filed in May 2025 as Tbilisi’s former vice mayor, lists no residential property in the capital but includes one car and two motorcycles valued at more than USD 30,000.
Giorgi Butkhuzi had served as Deputy Interior Minister since 2019, previously working under former Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri. Earlier this year, Georgian Dream–elected President Mikheil Kavelashvili awarded Butkhuzi and other sanctioned Interior Ministry officials the Order of Honor for their “special contribution to strengthening law and order.”
Butkhuzi is under the Baltic sanctions. Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia sanctioned him over his role in the violent crackdown on peaceful pro-EU demonstrations in November and December 2024.
Giorgi Sakhokhia, the newly appointed Deputy Interior Minister replacing Giorgi Butkhuzi, has served as rector of the Interior Ministry Academy and as director of the Defense Ministry’s Defense Volunteer Agency.
Between 2021 and 2025, Giorgi Sakhokhia served as an adviser to the Director of the State Care and Assistance Agency for Victims and Persons Affected by Trafficking under the Ministry of Health. He had previously held senior administrative positions in the Government Administration.
Also Read:
- 23/07/2025 – Georgian Dream Resignation Streak: Who Left and Why
- 10/04/2025 – Consolidating Autocracy? GD Reshuffle Leaves Experts Guessing