The court found Giorgi Udesiani and Aleksandre Mukhadze guilty of the torture of businessman Besarion Khardziani and extortion of his property.

According to the Prosecutor General's Office, Giorgi Udesiani and Aleksandre Mukhadze were sentenced to 10.6 years in prison.

“The Tbilisi City Court fully accepted the evidence presented by the Prosecutor’s Office and found Giorgi Udesiani and Aleksandre Mukhadze, the former director of the Penitentiary Department’s No. 8 facility, guilty of torturing businessman Besarion Khardziani and extorting property from him in order to force him to surrender his shares in Turtle Lake.

The evidence examined during the trial confirmed that in 2008, Giorgi Udesiani and Besarion Khardziani became partners in LLC “Turtle Lake Kalasa” and LLC “Turtle Lake Palace”. In 2011, officers of the Special Operative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs arrested Besarion Khardziani on charges of purchasing and storing narcotics, and after being sentenced to imprisonment, he was placed in the Penitentiary Department’s No. 8 facility. In order to illegally seize the shares of Turtle Lake owned by Besarion Khardziani and his family members and gain full control over the relevant assets, Giorgi Udesiani developed and implemented a violent, criminal plan. The accused contacted the then director of the N8 institution, Aleksandre Mukhadze, with whom he had friendly relations, and instructed him to create such conditions for the businessman in the prison institution that Besarion Khardziani and his family members would be forced to surrender the shares of Turtle Lake owned by them.

Two prisoners trusted by the administration were placed in Besarion Khardziani’s cell, who had received an order from Aleksandre Mukhadze to use any method to force Besarion Khardziani to surrender the shares of Turtle Lake. The aforementioned individuals systematically abused him both psychologically and physically for almost two months and forced him to transfer the property to Giorgi Udesiani. Also, on the instructions of Aleksandre Mukhadze, employees of Institution No. 8 facilitated and directly participated in the violence against Besarion Khardziani. Giorgi Udesiani also exerted physical and psychological pressure on Besarion Khardziani’s brother, Giorgi Khardziani.

Ultimately, as a result of physical and psychological violence, prisoner Besarion Khardziani and his family members were forced to transfer shares of Turtle Lake (LLC “Ku Tba Kala” and LLC “Ku Tba Palace”) to Giorgi Udesiani, since in case of failure to comply with the request, he was threatened with rape and murder in prison. The value of the aforementioned property amounted to approximately 4,000,000 GEL.

Tbilisi City Court found Giorgi Udesiani guilty of committing crimes under Articles 25, 144, Part 2, Subparagraphs “d” and “g” of the Criminal Code of Georgia (organization of torture, committed against two or more persons and a person detained or otherwise deprived of liberty) and Article 181, Part 2, Subparagraph “g” (extortion, committed for the purpose of obtaining a large amount of property) and determined the form and length of punishment as ten years and six months of imprisonment, while Aleksandre Mukhadze was found guilty under Articles 144, Part 2, Subparagraphs “a”, “g”, “h” of the Criminal Code of Georgia (torture, committed by an official, against a person detained or otherwise deprived of liberty, by order) and Article 333, Part 3, Subparagraphs “b” and "The charges under subsection "C" (exceeding official authority, committing violence and insulting the personal dignity of the victim) and the form and extent of the punishment were determined as ten years and six months of imprisonment," reads the information.