Press Release: Georgian Political Prisoner Bachiashvili Tortured in Custody
Washington DC, July 14, 2025 — Georgian political prisoner George Bachiashvili has been brutally assaulted in prison. Although detained in solitary confinement and under video surveillance, on the evening of July 11, 2025, prison authortiies allowed a heavyset man into Bachiashvili’s cell. The man immediately violently beat Bachiashvili, who lost consciousness after the man bit him so hard that he drew blood. A guard opened the door mid-beating, only to close it again on the attacker’s orders. Bachiashvili suffered serious injuries, including a head wound requiring stitches, facial trauma, lacerations and neurological distress.
Bachiashvili was transferred to a medical clinic but was denied access to his lawyers and family. He was warned that his persistent requests to contact his legal team would result in the withdrawal of medical care. He was uncontactable for over 24 hours until he declared a hunger strike and was able to contact the Public Defender’s hotline.
Read the full press releasePress Release: George Bachiashvili Facing Risk of Torture After Forced Return to Georgia
Washington, D.C., May 26, 2025 — George Bachiashvili faces an immediate risk of torture after his forcible return to Georgia on May 26, 2025. Mr. Bachiashvili’s international legal team will pursue all available legal avenues to hold Georgia accountable for its unlawful conduct in Mr. Bachiashvili’s case, to challenge the ongoing perversion of justice in Georgia and to seek redress for the arbitrary detention and mistreatment of Mr. Bachiashvili.
According to Robert Amsterdam, “I denounce in the strongest possible terms the ongoing instrumentalization of domestic and international law and the abuse of mechanisms of international legal cooperation in Georgia’s relentless efforts to jail my client for speaking truth to power.”
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Statement by George Bachiashvili
The following statement was published to Bachiashvili’s Facebook page on March 4, 2025.
With the greatest sorrow and a sense of injustice, I announce my forced departure from Georgia.
Leaving one’s homeland is not an easy choice. Despite the fact that Ivanishvili’s criminal plan was clear to me from the beginning, I still took the risk and fully exposed his true face. Ivanishvili’s regime has completely abandoned the principles of law and democracy, therefore my departure is not a retreat, but the only sensible solution.
The latest fabricated, time-barred, and legally inconsistent case against me once again confirms that courts no longer exist in Ivanishvili’s Georgia. This injustice is directed by the sanctioned Ivanishvili and his criminal gang, including: Judge Giorgi Gelashvili, court leaders Mikheil Chinchaladze and Levan Murusidze, Prosecutor General Giorgi Gabitashvili, and case prosecutor Mikheil Sadradze. Each of them who is involved in this political repression and extortion has already been sanctioned by the governments of the civilized world. This is not a legal system where truth prevails, nor a system that protects human rights—especially when you confront Ivanishvili’s corrupt machine.
In addition, I have received reliable information about real threats to my safety—threats that could have fatal consequences in today’s Georgia. In prison, I would be completely defenseless against Ivanishvili’s executioners… in the prison where Ivanishvili sent me a message that I would be crushed.
I declare solidarity with the thousands of Georgians who are illegally repressed and imprisoned by this regime, and with those who are fighting today for the freedom and democracy of our country. My departure is not surrender, but a deliberate and strategic step. In this battle, my presence abroad will be much more beneficial. Unfortunately, thousands of our fellow citizens do not have the opportunity to make this choice.
They cannot silence us, they cannot break us, and they cannot stop us because we have what they will never have—we have love!
George Bachiashvili
Learn more about the caseA show trial ordered by Bidzina Ivanishvili
On January 23, 2025, the first hearings in the show trial against George Bachiashvili began. This trial, which would never take place in any rule of law nation, is based entirely upon absurd politically motivated charges brought personally by the former Prime Minister and oligarch-in-chief Bidzina Ivanishvili. Acting on behalf of Mr. Bachiashvili, Amsterdam & Partners LLP entertains no illusions about the expected outcome of this telephone justice. We have published a new afterword to our White Paper in which we make the case for the strengthening of sanctions against Ivanishvili and Georgian Dream, taking advantage of Ivanishvili’s French citizenship, and bringing accountability to the people of Georgia for the kleptocratic theft of their Euro-Atlantic future.
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State capture in action: Bidzina Ivanishvili and the Erosion of Judicial Independence in Georgia
George Bachiashvili is a renowned venture capitalist and entrepreneur who has faced politically motivated charges initiated by Bidzina Ivanishvili, the powerful billionaire and former Prime Minister who exerts significant control over Georgia. Bachiashvili served Ivanishvili in various roles for many years and founded the largest private equity fund in the country. He has become a target for the oligarch due to his pro-Western views and his growing success as an entrepreneur, which Ivanishvili perceives as a threat to his dominance over the state.
Download White PaperBidzina Ivanishvili has effectively ruled Georgia from the shadows for over a decade, wielding unchecked power that has drawn severe criticism from the United States, United Nations, European Union, and NATO. His blatant control over the judiciary and the state has been compounded by recent geopolitical tensions between Russia and NATO, which have only emboldened his ambitions.
On July 6, 2023, the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia, under Ivanishvili’s influence, filed politically motivated charges against George Bachiashvili, alleging “misappropriation” and “legalization of illegal income” tied to a cryptocurrency mining investment from 2015. It was soon revealed that Ivanishvili himself was the claimant in this dubious case.
The allegations are not only baseless but rely solely on Ivanishvili’s own testimony, which is further contradicted by the loan agreement cited in the charges. This case is emblematic of a justice system subverted by political machinations. For more insights, see the press coverage and statements from the legal team.
Here are the crucial facts: In 2015, Bachiashvili approached Cartu Bank—beneficially owned by Ivanishvili—to secure a $5 million loan, which he combined with $1.3 million of his own capital to invest in a technology startup. The loan was fully repaid in accordance with the agreement, with Bachiashvili meeting all contractual obligations. At no point did he enter into a partnership with Ivanishvili. Now, years later, with no credible evidence, Ivanishvili seeks to dismantle a perceived political threat by distorting a repaid loan into a supposed “investment,” where according to Ivanishvili’s testimony, not a single dollar belonged to Bachiashvili whose mere role was to “technically execute” the project with no renumeration or profit share.
These egregious charges, primarily grounded in a single, self-serving witness statement from Ivanishvili, are unprecedented in a country that claims to uphold the rule of law. They reveal profound levels of corruption, state capture, and oligarchic control over Georgia’s independent institutions.
The Bachiashvili case serves as a stark warning to foreign investors and allies, including the European Union and the United States: if Ivanishvili can manipulate prosecutors and courts to fabricate a criminal case against a successful entrepreneur, then no one in Georgia is truly safe. This situation demands urgent attention and action from the international community to safeguard democratic principles and judicial integrity in Georgia.
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The Guardian newspaper ran a profile interview article about the political persecution of George Bachiashvili, who is facing falsified charges and a rigged show trial at the behest of Georgia’s former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili. Below is an excerpt. Bachiashvili…
STATE CAPTURE
Bidzina Ivanishvili’s grip on Georgia’s Institutions
The billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili first served as Prime Minister of Georgia from 2012-2013, but his influence over the levers of state power have continuously expanded long after he stepped away from formal office.
According to a report by the European Parliament, Ivanishvili’s “oligarchic influence limits the freedoms of the people of Georgia and puts the country’s future at risk,” as he has turned the country away from Euro-Atlantic cooperation and undermined EU policy toward supporting Ukrainian sovereignty. The negative impacts created by this one single individual include:
