Former police officer Davit Chitanava, who allegedly blackmailed women with photos taken during a specific procedure at a beauty center, has been granted bail of 60,000 GEL.

As reported by a media outlet, the decision was made by the Zugdidi District Court. According to them, the prosecutor's office itself filed a motion to grant bail to the former police officer as a preventive measure.

As for the alleged crime itself, according to media reports, a laser therapist at a beauty center in Samegrelo secretly took photos of female customers, which she sent to Davit Chitanava. According to media reports, Chitanava later used the photos to blackmail the women.

According to the prosecutor's office, the defendant obtained and illegally stored private photos of three victims using the WhatsApp application, and sent private photos of one of the victims to another person via Messenger.

According to the investigation, the defendant systematically illegally stalked the victim, visited her home, and had unwanted communication with her, as a result of which the victim suffered mental anguish and was forced to significantly change her lifestyle.

The former police officer was charged under Part 1 of Article 157 of the Criminal Code of Georgia (illegal storage and dissemination of a secret of private life) and Subsection “d” of Part 2 of Article 151 of the Criminal Code of Georgia (stalking), which provides for up to 7 years of imprisonment as a form and measure of punishment.

According to TV Pirveli, the incident occurred in April 2025 and the investigation has been ongoing since then, although Davit Chitanava was only arrested after he tried to leave Georgia on July 26.

According to the lawyer, Chitanava was traveling to Turkey “in connection with his son’s health condition”. According to him, he worked in the police all this time and left his job a month ago “due to family circumstances”.