IT Worker Gets 17-Year Sentence in Drug Case After Police Abuse Videos Emerge
By Messenger Staff
Wednesday, September 23, 2026
A Georgian IT worker has been sentenced to 17 years in prison in a drug case that has drawn scrutiny because of his reported connection to leaked videos showing police abusing detainees.
Giorgi Kvitsaridze, 32, was convicted by Kutaisi City Court of purchasing and possessing drugs in an especially large quantity and facilitating their sale. Judge Ketevan Tkhelidze issued the verdict in September.
Kvitsaridze's lawyer, Otar Rukhadze, said his client accepts that he used drugs and possessed a small amount for personal use, but rejects the allegation that he facilitated their sale. He also disputes the prosecution's account of the larger quantity found by police.
Rukhadze said Kvitsaridze maintains that the additional drugs were planted during his arrest in December 2025.
The lawyer said the prosecution's case relied largely on evidence and testimony from the officers who arrested and searched Kvitsaridze. A forensic examination also found his DNA on packaging containing the seized drugs.
Rukhadze said Kvitsaridze disputes that evidence, arguing that his DNA would be expected on the package containing the drugs he says he possessed for personal use.
The lawyer said Kvitsaridze believes the criminal case was connected to his access to police material.
"He says that all of this was orchestrated against him precisely because he obtained footage capturing instances of exceeding official powers by police," Rukhadze said, according to RFE/RL's Georgian service.
The case came to wider public attention after TV Pirveli broadcast recordings in June showing what appeared to be police officers physically and verbally abusing detainees at the Kobuleti police department in Adjara.
According to media reports, Kvitsaridze had obtained access to internal police chats and collected 33 video files. His mother, Eter Khatiskatsi, later gave five of those recordings to TV Pirveli.
The footage showed detainees being insulted and questioned by men identified as police officers. In several scenes, officers appear to kick and strike the detainees, while one man is seen pulling a victim by the hair. The broadcaster blurred the victims' faces.
The Interior Ministry said the recordings were from 2022. The Prosecutor's Office subsequently announced that three former Interior Ministry employees had been arrested over the incident.
Prosecutors said the three officers had been temporarily assigned to Adjara in July 2022 from the police department covering Imereti, Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti. They allegedly brought three people to the Kobuleti police station during an investigation and subjected them to verbal and physical abuse.
The Prosecutor's Office said its investigation began following a referral from the Interior Ministry's General Inspection. The three former officers were charged with exceeding official powers through violence.
It remains unclear whether they are still in custody.
Kvitsaridze's family has raised another allegation concerning his imprisonment. TV Pirveli, citing his mother, reported that police officers visited him in prison and offered a plea agreement and early release in exchange for additional video material he allegedly possessed.
According to the broadcaster, Kvitsaridze rejected the offer.
Rukhadze and Kvitsaridze's family intend to appeal the 17-year sentence. If the conviction survives the appeals process, Khatiskatsi has reportedly considered releasing the remaining recordings in her possession.
