The former director of Georgia’s Gldani Prison, Davit Gogoberishvili, has been found dead, with the authorities investigating the case as a suicide. Gogoberishvili stepped down from his position after Giorgi Bachiashvili, a former aide of ruling Georgian Dream party founder Bidzina Ivanishili, was beaten in his cell at the prison.
Gogoberishvili was found dead on Wednesday, the Interior Ministry told Civil Georgia.
According to IPN, Gogoberishvili was found dead with a gunshot wound in a garage in Tbilisi at an unspecified time.
His death followed claims made by Bachiashvili that he was brutally beaten in prison.
Bachiashvili, a former close associate of Ivanishvili, is serving an 11-year sentence in prison on charges of embezzling bitcoin allegedly belonging to Ivanishvili. He denies the charges, claiming the case was politically motivated and linked to his fallout with Ivanishvili, whom he had previously threatened to ‘expose’.
Through a letter published by his lawyers, Bachiashvili claimed that he was attacked in his cell in mid-July.
In the text, Bachiashvili alleged the beating was preceded by a conversation with Gogoberishvili, three days earlier, in which Gogoberishvili allegedly advised Bachiashvili to disclose his bank account information, cryptocurrency transactions, and wallet addresses to Ivanishvili.
Bachiashvili stated that he refused the request, after which an unidentified individual entered his cell, where he had been held alone for a week. The person first insulted him before ultimately assaulting him.
According to Bachiashvili, as a result of the attack, he received three stitches on his head and one on his wrist at the clinic — a bite wound on his shoulder was also treated. He also said he had a split lip, a swollen eye and cheek, and a broken tooth on his lower jaw.
Georgia’s Special Penitentiary Service announced Gogoberishvili’s resignation on 21 August in a post discussing their investigation into the attack on Bachiashvili. The following day, the agency announced the resignation of its head, Bezhan Obgaidze, amidst an ‘ongoing investigation and internal inspection’ — likely a reference to the incident.
Georgia’s former President Salome Zourabichvili also commented on Gogoberishvili’s death on X, saying ‘Russian serial suicides’ were spreading in Georgia.
‘In the penitentiary system the deceased was known for his humanity towards prisoners of conscience… coincidence?’, she wrote, in an allusion to a spate of deaths of high-profile Russians, often under suspicious circumstances, that are typically officially recognised as suicides
Mikheil Gvadzabia
