The Guardian: Giorgi Bachiashvili was detained by a group of about eight members of the local security services in Abu Dhabi before being transported to a police station in Dubai and put on a flight to Georgia

Giorgi Bachiashvili has been detained by local security services in the United Arab Emirates, The Guardian reports, citing friends and lawyers of Giorgi Bachiashvili.

Friends of Bachiashvili said he travelled to Jumeirah Beach hotel in Abu Dhabi to meet a local lawyer.

He was instead detained in the hotel’s lobby by a group of about eight members of the local security services before being transported to a police station in Dubai and put on a flight to Georgia, the sources said.

Robert Amsterdam, a US-Canadian human rights lawyer who has been representing Bachiashvili, said: “We were caught completely off-guard by his arrest. He had local counsel; he had local team, and he seemed very comfortable with them. It appears he was simply arrested and then put on a plane immediately.

“We are deeply concerned about the use of torture. Georgia is notoriously dangerous and corrupt, so it’s a matter of real, grave concern.

According to the article, the UN committee against torture has cited “numerous and consistent allegations” of torture by Georgian law enforcement.

Amsterdam added: “I denounce in the strongest possible terms the ongoing instrumentalisation 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.”

For information, the State Security Service of Georgia arrested Giorgi Bachiashvili, who was wanted and convicted under a red circular, on May 26, 2025, near the so-called green border section between Red Bridge and Sadakhlo, following an anonymous notification.