Former Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia Sentenced to Pre-Trial Detention in Absentia in Two Criminal Cases
By Liza Mchedlidze
Friday, November 14, 2025
Tbilisi City Court has ordered pre-trial detention in absentia for former Prime Minister and For Georgia party leader Giorgi Gakharia in connection with two criminal cases: the June 20, 2019 protest dispersal and the so-called Chorchana episode.
The rulings were delivered separately by Judges Davit Kurtanidze and Irakli Khuskivadze, who both upheld motions from the Prosecutor's Office requesting detention as a preventive measure. Prosecutors argued that Gakharia posed risks of reoffending, influencing witnesses, or avoiding prosecution.
According to the prosecution, while serving as Interior Minister on June 20, 2019, Gakharia instructed Special Tasks Department officers to use force simultaneously and without warning to clear demonstrators gathered outside the Parliament building. The coordinated use of rubber bullets and other crowd-control means reportedly left dozens of protesters injured, including two who lost their eyesight and five who sustained severe injuries.
In the separate Chorchana case, investigators claim that Gakharia unilaterally ordered the establishment of a police checkpoint near the occupation line in 2019. Authorities say the move provided a pretext for armed formations of the de facto South Ossetian regime to seize nearby heights inside Georgia's territory, leading to the loss of about 100 hectares of forested land and raising the risk of renewed armed clashes.
The charges against Gakharia fall under Articles 25, 117(3)(m), and 333(2) of the Georgian Criminal Code, which together carry a possible sentence of up to 13 years in prison.
Gakharia's defense team rejected the prosecution's reasoning, calling the charges baseless and politically motivated. His lawyer, Berdia Sichinava, said there is no evidence to justify detention and described the proceedings as an attempt by Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili to take revenge on the former prime minister.
Sichinava told the court that "the charges were brought not against Gakharia personally, but against the Georgian state," arguing that the alleged offenses "do not exist."
Gakharia did not attend either hearing, as he has been abroad for several months.
In a statement released on social media, Gakharia denounced the criminal cases as "fabricated" and accused the ruling party of launching political persecution. He claimed the charges fulfill a threat made by Ivanishvili, who he said had publicly promised to bring cases against him.
Calling the situation "a new stage in the struggle for Georgia's European future," Gakharia pledged to continue his political activity from abroad and urged pro-democracy forces to resist what he described as an effort to push the country closer to Russia's orbit.
The court is expected to continue procedural hearings in both cases in the coming weeks.
