Georgia’s State Security Service (SSG) has arrested opposition politician Levan Khabeishvili, a leading member of the United National Movement party (UNM), on bribery charges after he publicly offered riot police $200,000 not to disperse protesters.
During the detention on Thursday, another UNM member, Murtaz Zodelava, was also arrested after police said he attempted to hide his phone and ‘assaulted’ an officer.
Khabeishvili has repeatedly called for a ‘peaceful revolution’ to coincide with the upcoming municipal elections on 4 October. As a part of these calls, he offered the sum in a public statement in July to any riot police officer who agreed to stand aside.
In addition, he also offered the same amount of money to other members of Georgia’s security apparatus if they were able to ‘expose the Ivanishvili regime and system’, referring to the billionaire founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili.
The SSG has charged Khabeishvili with ‘promising, offering, or granting money to an official’, which can carry a sentence of four to seven years in prison. Zodeleva was also charged with ‘resistance, threats, or violence against authorities’, which the SSG said can result in a prison sentence of two to five years in prison.
Khabeishvili is one of the most prominent figures in UNM’s current leadership. He is currently the chair of the UNM’s political council and previously served as the UNM’s chair from January 2023 to June 2024.
Khabeishvili cited deteriorating health as his reason for stepping down, following a severe beating during anti-government demonstrations in May of that year. At the time, UNM stated that Khabeishvili had been abducted and assaulted by the police.
In August 2025, Lasha Tsanava, another detained member of the UNM, alleged that the SSG was blackmailing him in order to obtain compromising information about Khabeishvili. In response, the UNM demanded a probe into the matter.
Khabeishvili is the latest in a series of leading opposition figures to be arrested in Georgia on various charges.
Yousef Bardouka
