This fight [regarding Giorgi Bachiashvili’s case] will not end with today’s decision; on the contrary, it is moving to a new phase and will continue in international forums in the future, – wrote David Jandieri, the lawyer of Giorgi Bachiashvili, the former head of the “Co-Investment Fund,” on social media after the Court of Appeals’ decision on the case became known.

As he noted, Bachiashvili’s case is a clear example of how the government uses the judiciary for personal vendettas and to destroy political opponents.

“Today’s verdict by the Court of Appeals in Giorgi Bachiashvili’s case once again confirmed that the judiciary in Georgia is fully politically controlled and has been turned into a submissive tool of the government. This was not a legal process; it was another stage of political repression disguised as a formality. Giorgi’s case is a clear example of how the government uses the judiciary for personal vendettas and to destroy political opponents. We will continue the fight both within the country and beyond, with democratic partners, to ensure this injustice does not persist. This fight will not end with today’s decision; on the contrary, it is moving to a new phase and will continue in international forums in the future,” Jandieri writes.

For reference, the Court of Appeals upheld the Tbilisi City Court’s decision, which sentenced Giorgi Bachiashvili, the former General Director of the “Co-Investment Fund,” to 11 years of imprisonment. The case concerns the misappropriation of cryptocurrency belonging to Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of “Georgian Dream,” for which the Tbilisi City Court sentenced Bachiashvili to 11 years of imprisonment.