Prepared by Messenger Staff
Ex-Co-Investment Fund Director Alleges Abduction Involving State Security Head
Giorgi Bachiashvili, the detained former director of the Co-Investment Fund and one-time confidant of Bidzina Ivanishvili, told Tbilisi City Court that Anri Okhanashvili, the current head of Georgia's State Security Service, was present on the aircraft that brought him back to the country.
"This was a special operation commissioned by Ivanishvili and executed by the Security Service. Mr. Anri Okhanashvili was on the plane I was taken with," Bachiashvili stated during a court session in connection with the ongoing 'Mtkvari HPP' case. The proceedings concern alleged misconduct with severe consequences during his leadership of the investment entity.
He left Georgia on March 4, just days before being sentenced in absentia to eleven years for embezzlement involving cryptocurrency and laundering illicit funds. On May 27, officials announced his capture near the tri-border area with Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Appearing in court two days later, Bachiashvili claimed he had been seized outside the country, blindfolded, and held for 48 hours. "Then, they put me directly onto a Georgian Airways Bombardier and, breaking every law, returned me to Georgia," he said.
Bishop Alleges Assassination Plot by Senior Government Official
Bishop Giorgi Jamdeliani of the Marneuli and Hujabi eparchy claimed during his Sunday sermon on June 8 that a current government figure had orchestrated a plan to kill him. While he did not identify the individual, he described the person as a high-ranking official within the state security services.
According to Jamdeliani, the alleged conspirator is an active member of the administration. He warned that unless authorities distance themselves from the official, he may reveal further details.
The bishop said a nun from his diocese had been recruited to carry out the attempt. He alleged she had received instructions for a year to either poison his food or apply a lethal substance to his hand, which would kill him within an hour. He added that the official had been physically removed from the area by guards.
"Now, anything can be expected from him-any form of provocation," Jamdeliani said, suggesting that larger forces may be supporting the individual.
The Prosecutor's Office has opened a criminal investigation under Articles 18 and 108 of the Criminal Code, which concern attempted crimes and premeditated murder.
Speaking to TV Pirveli, the bishop confirmed that prosecutors had contacted him but said he would not participate in the inquiry. "They reached out to me, but I am exercising my constitutional rights as a member of the clergy," he said, noting he would follow church law rather than cooperate with law enforcement.
