Former Head of Co-Investment Fund Speaks Out Against Threats from Georgian Dream Founder
Giorgi Bachiashvili, the former head of the Co-Investment Fund, has accused Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the Georgian Dream party, of threatening him in court.
According to Bachiashvili, Ivanishvili told him that he would face liability in a civil dispute while he was testifying. The threat came during a closed session where Ivanishvili was also testifying.
Bachiashvili claimed that Ivanishvili did not answer specific questions and avoided answering them. He said that several threatening proposals were made, including threats related to other civil law relations involving the fund’s structural parts.
“I am not afraid of this,” Bachiashvili said. “This will be the third time when a civil matter is considered from a criminal perspective on Ivanishvili’s instructions.”
Ivanishvili is testifying in his own case, where he is the victim and Bachiashvili is the accused. The prosecutor’s office had filed a motion to close the session, which was granted by the judge.
The prosecution argued that the session should be closed to protect commercial secrets. However, the defense disagreed with this motion, saying it was not justified in general phrases.
Bachiashvilli himself called on the judge to make an objective decision. The charges brought against him relate to an act committed in 2017, when he allegedly misappropriated 8,986 Bitcoins belonging to an investor. He pleads not guilty to these charges.
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