A former ally of Bidzina Ivanishvili, Guiorgui Bachiashvili claims to have been “kidnapped” by his former boss, forcibly brought back to Tbilisi and arrested (May 2025).

Sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment for money laundering and embezzlement in a botched trial, he now claims to have been beaten by a fellow prisoner…He had refused to disclose access to his bank and cryptocurrency accounts.

The head of a Tbilisi hospital said Bachiashvili had been admitted to the emergency ward with multiple injuries.

This case is yet another example of the reprisals that have fallen upon Ivanishvili’s disgraced former close associates… it’s the latest in a long list…. Based on numerous identical cases, political scientist Guela Vasadze has declared that “the crackdown on dissidents and the break with former close associates could indicate that Ivanishvili’s hold on the circle of power is being undermined”(AFP).