Giorgi Bachiashvili faces a risk of torture upon his forcible return to Georgia on May 26, 2025, reads a statement from international law firm Amsterdam & Partners.
Amsterdam & Partners says Bachiashvili is the target of an ongoing campaign of political persecution led by Georgia’s de facto ruler, Bidzina Ivanishvili.
“George Bachiashvili faces an immediate risk of torture after his forcible return to Georgia on May 26, 2025. Mr. Bachiashvili’s international legal team will pursue all available legal avenues to hold Georgia accountable for its unlawful conduct in Mr. Bachiashvili’s case, to challenge the ongoing perversion of justice in Georgia and to seek redress for the arbitrary detention and mistreatment of Mr. Bachiashvili.
Robert Amsterdam: “I denounce in the strongest possible terms the ongoing instrumentalization of domestic and international law and the abuse of mechanisms of international legal cooperation in Georgia’s relentless efforts to jail my client for speaking truth to power.”
“Mr. Bachiashvili has been the target of an intensifying campaign of political persecution orchestrated by Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia’s de facto ruler. Ongoing criminal proceedings in Georgia against Mr. Bachiashvili, including nonsensical and time-barred charges stemming from legitimate business activities over a decade ago, reflect the systemic use of the judiciary as a tool of political control. Mr. Bachiashvili’s forced return to Georgia today places him at immediate risk of arbitrary detention, coercive interrogation, and abusive mistreatment.
“The danger is real. The UN Committee Against Torture has cited ‘numerous and consistent allegations’ of torture by Georgian law enforcement. The European Court of Human Rights has issued repeated rulings against Georgia for violations of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. And the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), in its 2018 public report, warned of persistent patterns of beatings, coercive questioning, and inadequate safeguards during detention in Georgia. These concerns are particularly acute in politically sensitive cases like Mr. Bachiashvili’s, where the independence of the judiciary is wholly compromised.
“The legal proceedings against Mr. Bachiashvili in Georgia have themselves been a violation of basic standards of due process. They are part of a broader pattern in which politically connected prosecutors and judges are used to silence perceived opponents of the regime and dismantle independent centers of influence.
“The international community will hold Georgia accountable for all violations of the rights of Mr. Bachiashvili. Georgia must adhere to its obligations to ensure judicial independence and to protect the fundamental rights of Mr. Bachiashvili and others facing politically motivated persecution”, reads the statement.
The State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG) has confirmed the detention of Giorgi Bachiashvili, based on an official statement released by the agency.
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