Georgia’s Special Penitentiary Service chief, Bezhan Obgaidze, resigned “with a personal statement,” the agency said on August 22, as authorities investigate a prison incident in which Giorgi Bachiashvili, a former aide to Bidzina Ivanishvili jailed for embezzling cryptocurrency, was beaten. Obgaidze had held the post for two months.
The agency itself noted that Obgaidze’s resignation followed the departures of Davit Gogoberishvili, chief of the No. 8 penitentiary facility where Giorgi Bachiashvili was beaten, and G. Kemoklidze, deputy director of the agency’s penitentiary department, amid the ongoing investigation.
“Within the framework of the ongoing disciplinary proceedings at the Special Penitentiary Service, after studying the revealed circumstances, and considering also that, during the ongoing investigation and internal inspection, the heads still retained their positions, which could have interfered with establishing the objective truth in the case,” the prison agency said, “the above-mentioned persons left their posts based on personal statements.”
Georgian Dream Justice Minister Paata Salia has already approved Giorgi Pataridze as the new chief of the Special Penitentiary Service. Pataridze has served as deputy minister of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health, and Social Affairs.
Giorgi Bachiashvili was beaten in prison on July 8 in what he described as a “coordinated activity between the prison administration and criminals.” The Special Penitentiary Service confirmed the beating, but said it was a mere fight between Bachiashvili and another inmate, and both sustained injuries. The agency launched an investigation into a criminal charge of violence.
On August 21, the Special Penitentiary Service said the beating may have happened in concert between prison staff, inmates, and Bachiashvili himself.
Giorgi Bachiashvili is serving an 11-year prison sentence after being convicted of embezzling a large sum of cryptocurrency from Bidzina Ivanishvili and laundering it. He was arrested in May following what he said was his abduction from abroad involving State Security Service head Anri Okhanashvili. The alleged abduction followed his escape from Georgia in March, when Bachiashvili cited “credible information” suggesting his life would be in danger if imprisoned.
Giorgi Bachiashvili Beaten in Jail
The Daily Beat: 9 June
Bachiashvili Claims Security Service Chief Was Aboard Plane Used in His Alleged Abduction to Georgia
The Daily Beat: 29 May
