The Tbilisi City Court has ruled that former Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze and two co-accused will remain in pre-trial detention as their ongoing case continues.
At today’s hearing, the court examined the preventive measures applied to the defendants. Judge’s decision upheld the remand in custody of Juansher Burchuladze, his former deputy Giorgi Khaindrava, and his brother-in-law Vasil Mkheidze.
Addressing the court, Burchuladze sharply criticized the prosecution’s reasoning, arguing that nothing substantive had changed in the case to justify continued detention.
“I don’t mean to belittle, but the prosecutor’s office appears guided by standardised explanations. What has fundamentally changed?” he said. “The defence is citing my health condition, which is true. I require daily rehabilitation, something that cannot be provided in a penitentiary institution. The most severe preventive measures are applied for violent crimes, and our case is not of that nature.”
Burchuladze also claimed that the prosecution had failed to present concrete or direct evidence.
“What has changed is that the evidence presented so far is solely indirect and unconfirmed. Until now, they have had time to gather evidence. The real change is that the prosecutor’s office has been unable to produce any concrete evidence,” he argued. He further noted that he is a father of eight children and hoped the court would take that into consideration.
The former minister is charged with abuse of official authority and laundering illicit income, allegedly involving the receipt of a significantly large sum of money. If found guilty, he faces nine to twelve years in prison.
In the same case, the court set GEL 30,000 bail for Vladimir Gudushauri, the former head of the Defence Ministry’s Procurement Department.
