According to Kuprashvili, who is defending Akhobadze, there is no evidence proving that he took a bribe.

He also noted that Akhobadze was not questioned during the investigation phase and was directly arrested.

“We are in a somewhat unclear situation. On the one hand, we have signed a document that the case materials should not be disclosed, but we see that public statements have been made and the prosecutor has publicly shared details of the case materials. However, I still must respect the document’s content.

You have seen that not a single piece of evidence has been presented that directly indicates Levan Akhobadze’s guilt. Moreover, the charge brought against him - bribery - does not correspond in substance to the evidence presented by the prosecution. It is not legally possible for the act described to be qualified as bribery in the way it has been done today. There is no main piece of evidence justifying the detention of Major General Levan Akhobadze, who has served this country his entire life. He is a war veteran - how many major generals who are war veterans do we even have? This is a very important circumstance for our country,” he said.

The lawyer added that the arguments for detention were not considered and that no concrete risks were demonstrated to justify a non-custodial measure.

“Even the accused himself stated that everyone in the city knew about this investigation, because it is a small town. The hearing was public, which is why I am speaking about these materials. All witnesses were under a very high level of scrutiny, and there is no fact indicating that any witness was subjected to pressure or influence. There were no arguments to justify detention, yet a decision was simply made to place a war veteran and major general in custody.

I also want to address yesterday’s reports. Attention was drawn to the claim that a large amount of money was seized from Akhobadze’s home. People, no large amount was seized - this is about the equivalent of two months’ salary. We are ready to prove our position and to cooperate with you so that accurate information is provided to the public,” Kuprashvili said.

When asked what interest might exist against Akhobadze, or whether he is being pressured to testify against Grigol Liluashvili, the lawyer responded:

“There may be many interests against General Levan Akhobadze, and I do not know who might have them. That is exactly why I noted that when such a person becomes the subject of an investigation, it is very important that the investigation does not ignore the fact that he was never questioned. He was not involved in the investigation process at all and was not questioned even as a witness before being formally charged,” he said.

For context, former Deputy Head of the State Security Service Levan Akhobadze was detained by the Anti-Corruption Agency of the State Security Service on charges of accepting a particularly large bribe.

According to the investigation, the former deputy head allegedly promised an entrepreneur, through intermediaries, assistance in recovering 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 11 to 15 years of imprisonment.