Georgian Court of Appeals Upholds Politically Motivated Conviction of George Bachiashvili

Tbilisi, August 12, 2025 — The Georgian Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of George Bachiashvili, confirming the 11-year prison sentence handed down in absentia by the Tbilisi City Court in March 2025.

Bachiashvili is a Western-educated investor and former CEO of the Georgian Co-Investment Fund. He broke with the de facto Georgian leader Bidzina Ivanishvili after denouncing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, backing Georgia’s EU accession, and supporting anti-government protests.

Soon after, prosecutors, acting under Ivanishvili’s influence, filed baseless cryptocurrency fraud and money laundering charges against him, which Transparency International condemned as “devoid of both legal and factual grounds.”

After nearly two years of Kafkaesque legal proceedings in Georgia, Bachiashvili left the country in early 2025 shortly before a conviction was handed down at the end of a sham trial. Bachiashvili was detained in May 2025 in Abu Dhabi, blindfolded, and forcibly rendered to Georgia aboard a waiting plane. Since then, he has been kept in prison without adequate access to his legal team or family and has suffered a brutal beating in prison.

Robert Amsterdam, Founder and Managing Partner of Amsterdam & Partners LLP, who is Bachiashvili’s international counsel, stated: “This latest ruling is deeply unjust but comes as no surprise in a country where the judiciary is captive to political power. From the outset George Bachiashvili has been the target of a baseless prosecution driven by Bidzina Ivanishvili, with the outcome predetermined. The evidence is non-existent, and the message is clear: in Ivanishvili’s Georgia, no one is safe from political persecution.”

Amsterdam emphasised that the conviction is part of a wider pattern of politically motivated persecution, adding: “The international community must recognise that this is not merely an isolated miscarriage of justice, but a symptom of Georgia’s accelerating slide into authoritarianism as Georgian jails continue to fill with political prisoners. The fight for George’s freedom is a fight for the rule of law, judicial independence, and the democratic future of Georgia.”

David Jandieri, a lawyer in Bachiashvili’s Georgian legal defence team, said: “We will continue the fight both within the country and beyond, with democratic partners, to ensure this injustice does not persist. This fight will not end with today’s decision; on the contrary, it is moving to a new phase and will continue in international forums in the future.” 

The ruling comes one month after the brutal assault against Bachiashvili in custody after he refused to open all his bank accounts, crypto currency turnovers and account addresses for Bidzina Ivanishvili. This severe beating led to serious injuries including a head wound requiring stitches, facial trauma, lacerations and neurological distress for George.

Amsterdam & Partners LLP is an international law firm based in Washington DC and London, specialising in human rights advocacy. For more information about the firm, please visit www.amsterdamandpartners.com. Information on the Bachiashvili case is available at www.freegeorge.co.uk.

Media enquiries should be directed to contact@amsterdamandpartners.com for the firm and reputation@thephagroup.com for the case.

Detail on the legal cases

The first case against Bachiashvili revolves around a $5m loan provided to Bachiashvili’s venture capital business, Mission Gate Inc. in 2015 by Cartu Bank - beneficially owned by Ivanishvili - which Bachiashvili combined with $1.3 million of his own capital to invest in a technology startup. The loan was fully repaid with interest in accordance with the agreement.

On July 6, 2023, the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia, under Ivanishvili’s influence, filed politically motivated charges, alleging “misappropriation” and “legalisation of illegal income”. According to the prosecution, Ivanishvili provided funds, expecting returns from cryptocurrency mining. The prosecution claims that between 2015 and 2017, Bachiashvili embezzled 8,253 Bitcoins (valued at approximately $39 million in 2017) and laundered illicit funds.

Bachiashvili denies any investment arrangement with Ivanishvili and there is no documentary evidence supporting the allegations against Bachiashvili, which are supported solely by Ivanishvili and associates. The dispute should at best be a civil litigation matter between Cartu Bank and Mission Gate Inc, not a criminal case.