The lawyer of the former Deputy Head of the State Security Service, Levan Akhobadze, says that there is no evidence confirming that Akhobadze took a bribe, and announced that they will appeal the court’s decision and continue the fight for justice.

According to lawyer Davit Simonia, there is no concrete evidence in the case proving the prosecution’s claim that Akhobadze accepted a bribe.

“As for the claim made by the prosecution that Levan Akhobadze took a bribe, there is no concrete evidence in the case file to support this,” he said after the court hearing.

He noted that the court fully shared the prosecution’s motion that the accused posed a risk of absconding and destroying evidence.

“We clearly pointed out to the court that there are no specific facts or evidence in the case that would confirm such risks. Nevertheless, the court kept Levan Akhobadze in custody.

We will appeal this decision and continue the fight for justice at all instances.

There is no evidence in the case confirming that Levan Akhobadze took a bribe, despite the prosecution’s claims,” Simonia stated.

For context, the former Deputy Head of the State Security Service, Levan Akhobadze, was ordered to be held in pretrial detention by Tbilisi City Court Judge Nana Shamatava.

He was detained by the State Security Service’s Anti-Corruption Agency on charges of accepting a particularly large bribe.

According to the investigation, the former deputy head allegedly promised an entrepreneur, through intermediaries, to help recover funds, in exchange for which he demanded a bribe of 500,000 GEL, later agreeing on 250,000 GEL.

He has been charged under Article 338, Part 3, Subparagraph “e” of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which provides for a prison sentence of 11 to 15 years.