Jailed Former Ivanishvili Associate Claims Beating in Prison Was Coordinated
By Liza Mchedlidze
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Giorgi Bachiashvili, a former top executive at Bidzina Ivanishvili's Co-Investment Fund and once a close ally of the billionaire ex-prime minister, says he was beaten in prison in what he calls a "coordinated activity between the prison administration and criminals."
In a written statement released from prison on Sunday, Bachiashvili said the July 11 attack followed threats from the head of the Gldani penitentiary. "My beating is linked to the illegal extortion of my property and intimidation," he wrote.
Bachiashvili is serving an 11-year sentence after being convicted of embezzling cryptocurrency from Ivanishvili and laundering the funds. He was arrested in May after reportedly being abducted from abroad, a claim that implicates the head of Georgia's State Security Service, Anri Okhanashvili. Bachiashvili had previously fled Georgia in March, citing threats to his life if detained.
His lawyer, Davit Jandieri, said Bachiashvili suffered serious injuries. "He has visible bruises on his face and hands, stitches on his head, and now uses a wheelchair," Jandieri told RFE/RL's Georgian Service.
Zurab Chkhaidze, director of the Tbilisi Vivamedi clinic, confirmed to the outlet Publika that Bachiashvili sustained "various injuries to his head and body" and received medical care following the incident.
The Special Penitentiary Service acknowledged what it described as an "incident," calling it a fight between Bachiashvili and another inmate. According to the Service, both prisoners were injured. Officials dismissed allegations of coordinated violence as "defamatory" and added that Bachiashvili has shared a four-person cell with various cellmates, not a solitary cell.
The Public Defender's Office said its representative visited Bachiashvili and has requested that the Prosecutor's Office and penitentiary officials preserve all relevant surveillance footage.
Georgia's 5th President Salome Zourabichvili condemned the situation, calling it "alarming." In a public statement, she said, "Insecurity reigns in the country."
