Lana Tsertsvadze, lawyer for former head of the State Security Service (SSS) Grigol Liluashvili, who has been charged with accepting an especially large bribe, says the Prosecutor’s Office has brought false charges against her client. The lawyer made the statement to journalists before the court hearing.

According to her, the defense has presented a witness at today’s hearing who will provide information confirming Grigol Liluashvili’s innocence. The lawyer said the individual is a member of Grigol Liluashvili’s security detail, whom the defense questioned during the investigation stage, meaning the information provided by the witness is already known to them.

At the same time, lawyer Lana Tsertsvadze said the defense would also file a motion today to attach additional evidence to the case, seeking, based on a court ruling, to obtain information from a public agency.

“This is important documentary evidence that is directly related to one of the key issues - the fact that the witness [Romeo Mikautadze] allegedly himself accepted bribes from the business sector,” Lana Tsertsvadze said.

As for the statement by former Deputy Economy Minister and convicted person Romeo Mikautadze that he handed money received from businessmen to former SSS chief Grigol Liluashvili in his office in an approximately 15-kilogram handbag, Liluashvili’s lawyer claims that this is a lie.

“If a person had gone to Grigol Liluashvili’s office - and we are talking about the SSS - they would have had to go through certain procedures and checkpoints. The defense will seek to establish whether this person actually went through those checkpoints and entered Grigol Liluashvili’s office, let alone whether he could have brought approximately 15 kilograms of luggage with him. Our main objective is to counter even the information presented by the prosecution at the level of suspicion and, in accordance with the principle of adversarial proceedings, demonstrate the evidence - whether witness testimony or other documentary evidence - which will ultimately prove that the charges brought against my client by the prosecution are absurd and false.

“As for Romeo Mikautadze, had he come to the SSS at all, there would have been at least video footage. There isn’t even a telephone record from this witness at the most basic level, such as a message saying, ‘I’m here.’ [Regarding the SSS] address, the witness has not been there at all. Moreover, when we are talking about a suitcase or hand luggage weighing approximately 15 kilograms, it is inconceivable that someone could enter the SSS, one of the most heavily guarded buildings in the country, without undergoing security checks,” Lana Tsertsvadze said.

For reference, former head of the State Security Service Grigol Liluashvili was arrested on December 23, 2025, after appearing at the Prosecutor’s Office for questioning. He has been charged under Article 338, Part 2, Subparagraph “G,” and Part 3, Subparagraph “E,” of the Criminal Code of Georgia, concerning the acceptance of an especially large bribe by a group acting pursuant to a prior agreement. The offense carries a prison sentence of 11 to 15 years.