“I do not negotiate with terrorists. Pass this message on to whoever instructed you - I’ll dig you out of your grave [addressing the prosecutor],” former Defense Minister Bacho Akhalaia said during a court hearing.

According to Akhalaia, he was told at the State Security Service (SSS) that his wife, Ana Nadareishvili, would be arrested if he did not testify against his friends.

“Why should a case that hasn’t even begun be closed? You want people not to attend the hearings, so they won’t learn the information. On what grounds, with what logic, should it be closed? I still don’t even understand whether my wife is charged or not. There is something strange about all of this. I oppose closing the hearing - I want everyone to know what evidence you have.

My wife was detained together with me. In the SSS building, they told me: we will arrest your wife unless you testify against other people - Paata Burchuladze and others. When they tell me ‘we will arrest your wife and leave your children orphaned,’ should this case be closed? Or should I say what I didn’t do, just to say that I knew something? That your child will be left an orphan for 10 years? Anyone who does this - who demands that I testify against my friends - is a terrorist. Pass this message on to whoever instructed you: I’ll dig you out of your grave,” Akhalaia said, addressing the prosecutor.

“What do my wife and children have to do with this? You are terrorists for taking my wife and children hostage.

And I do not negotiate with terrorists,” Bacho Akhalaia said.