Levan Khabeishvili, the chairman of the political council of the “United National Movement,” has been charged with promising a bribe to a public official to commit an illegal act and publicly calling for the overthrow of state authority.
This was announced during a briefing at the prosecutor’s office. According to the agency, the state prosecution will request the court to impose detention as a preventive measure for Khabeishvili.
“The General Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia has charged two individuals with promising a bribe in exchange for committing an illegal act, calling for the overthrow of state authority, and obstructing an investigation.
An investigation conducted by the Anti-Corruption Agency of the State Security Service of Georgia established that in August and September 2025, Levan Khabeishvili, the chairman of the political council of the ‘United National Movement’ party, systematically made public statements via television broadcasts and social media, calling for actions and promising employees of the Special Tasks Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs a bribe of USD 200,000 if they refused to participate in training and exercises, neglected their official duties, and, if necessary, refrained from using legally authorized special means. Additionally, Levan Khabeishvili publicly promised to pay the same substantial amount as a bribe to police officers who provided information and confidential materials related to their official activities.
For these actions, he was detained based on a court order on September 11, 2025, and charged under the second part of Article 339 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which pertains to promising a bribe (in the form of money) to a public official to perform or refrain from performing an action in favor of the bribe-giver during the exercise of their official duties.
In addition to the aforementioned charge, based on further evidence obtained in the same case, Levan Khabeishvili was also charged under Article 317 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which pertains to publicly calling for the overthrow of state authority. Since June 2025, through television broadcasts and social media, he systematically urged citizens to commit acts aimed at overthrowing state authority, specifying particular dates and locations for these actions.
Regarding Murtaz Zodelava, who was detained in the same case for resisting a representative of the authorities, it was established through obtained evidence that Zodelava illegally interfered in the activities of an investigator from the State Security Service and attempted to hide Levan Khabeishvili’s mobile phone, for which a court-issued search warrant had been obtained, with the intent to obstruct a comprehensive, complete, and objective investigation.
As a result, instead of being charged under Article 353 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, he was ultimately charged under the first part of Article 364, which in this case pertains to illegally interfering in an investigator’s activities in any form with the purpose of obstructing a comprehensive, complete, and objective investigation. The offense carries a penalty of up to one year of imprisonment.
The prosecution is requesting the court to impose detention as a preventive measure for Levan Khabeishvili and bail for Murtaz Zodelava. The investigation into the case is ongoing,” the prosecutor’s office stated.
Levan Khabeishvili, the chairman of the political council of the “United National Movement,” has been charged with promising a bribe to a public official to commit an illegal act and publicly calling for the overthrow of state authority.
