On the basis of judge's ruling, employees of the Central Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, along with the Prosecutor General's Office, as a result of complex investigative actions conducted in Tbilisi and Samegrelo region within the last 24 hours, 12 individuals have been arrested and 13 facilities have been closed on charges of promoting prostitution and providing lodging to prostitution. The relevant statement was made by Tornike Marsagishvili, Head of the Division for the Fight against Trafficking and Illegal Migration under the Main Division for Combating Organized Crime of the Central Criminal Police Department, at the briefing.

Among the detainees are both Georgian and Chinese citizens, as well as singer Khatia Tsereteli.

“The evidence obtained as a result of the covertly held investigative actions carried out by law enforcement officers, namely audio and video recordings, confirmed that the managers and administrators of the facilities supported women involved in prostitution on the regular basis. In particular, they provided them with premises in the facilities located on Marjanishvili, Agmashenebeli, Dadiani and Tsinamdzgvrishvili streets in Tbilisi in exchange for a certain amount of cash.

The investigation also established that the administrators of the aforementioned facilities also assisted women involved in prostitution to find clients, and in return, received income as a result of providing sexual services.

It is also established that the main income of the aforementioned facilities was the income received as a result of supporting prostitution. In the course of the search, law enforcement officers seized money allegedly obtained through the facilitation of prostitution as evidence.

The committed crimes envision up to 4 years of imprisonment.

The investigation is underway under Article 254 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which refers to the facilitation of prostitution and providing a place for prostitution”, Tornike Marsagishvili said.