Prepared by Messenger Staff
Georgia Prison Service Suspects Collusion in Beating of Former Ivanishvili Associate
Georgia's Special Penitentiary Service announced it suspects that prison staff, inmates, and convicted businessman Giorgi Bachiashvili may have acted together in the violent incident that left him injured on July 8.
"The identified circumstances create a reasonable suspicion that specific employees of the Special Penitentiary Service, the inmates under their influence, and convicted Giorgi Bachiashvili may have acted in concert," the agency said in its August 21 statement. It added that "placing K. Metreveli and G. Bachiashvili in the same cell raises suspicions."
Bachiashvili, once a close associate of billionaire and Georgian Dream party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, claimed the assault was not a random altercation. He described it as a "coordinated activity between the prison administration and criminals."
The Penitentiary Service initially confirmed the incident days after it was reported, saying it was simply a fight between Bachiashvili and another inmate, identified as K. Metreveli. "Both were injured," the agency said at the time, noting that a criminal investigation had been opened on charges of violence.
In the wake of the incident, two senior officials left their posts: Davit Gogoberishvili, head of the N8 penitentiary facility where the beating took place, and G. Kemoklidze, deputy director of the agency's penitentiary department. The service confirmed that other senior officials remain in place.
Bachiashvili is serving an 11-year sentence after being convicted of embezzling cryptocurrency from Ivanishvili and laundering the funds. He was arrested in May, saying he had been abducted abroad in an operation involving State Security Service head Anri Okhanashvili. Months earlier, in March, he had fled Georgia, warning of "credible information" that his life would be in danger if imprisoned.
Georgian Dream Official Denies Calling Russian Troops 'Peacekeepers' in NYT Report
Davit Razmadze, chairman of the Gori Municipal Assembly and a Georgian Dream representative, has rejected remarks attributed to him in a recent New York Times article that sparked public outrage.
The piece quoted Razmadze as blaming former President Mikheil Saakashvili for the 2008 Russo-Georgian War and describing Russian troops who entered Gori as "peacekeepers." According to the report, Razmadze said, "It was all Misha's fault. He deliberately provoked the situation," adding that Russian forces prevented further looting by "Saakashvili's hooligans."
The article also cited Razmadze as saying he opposed Georgia's European Union membership, declaring, "Just as the Soviet Union collapsed, I now want to see the EU fall down because it's against us," and claiming the EU was "full of KGB agents."
Razmadze strongly denied the comments, calling them "defamation" and "lies." Speaking to TV Pirveli on August 21, he insisted, "Never in my life have I said anything good about Russia. I said that Saakashvili's government left the town, not that 'Saakashvili's hooligans' were looting." He added that he does not blame Saakashvili for starting the war but for "supporting the annexation of Georgian territories."
On the EU, Razmadze dismissed the article's claims outright. "I am a Georgian Dream member. Is Georgian Dream saying we are against EU integration?!" he said, suggesting he may pursue legal action against journalist Scott Anderson, the author of the New York Times piece.
