Georgian doctor and former detained protester Giorgi Akhobadze has said that he was attacked after leaving the airport in Tbilisi. Akhobadze was previously acquitted of drug charges seen by many as political retribution for taking part in protests.
Akhobadze reported on the attack in a live video stream on Facebook in the early hours of Tuesday morning. He has since appeared to have deactivated his account.
In the video, Akhobadze says that a black car tailed him from the airport, cutting off his taxi.
‘Some guys jumped out and said they were police, that some event was happening’, he said. ‘They opened the back door and physically assaulted me. These are either Lasha Baslandze’s friend circle or people he sent, or maybe even he himself and his people. I’m telling you, they’re terrorists’.
Baslandze was a businessperson and music producer close to the ruling Georgian Dream party. He died at the age of 40 in late October. It is yet unclear what connection Baslandze had with Akhobadze.
‘And of course, no one will investigate this. Of course, it’s all on camera everywhere, where this guy was. I noticed him near the airport too. He was standing there, and the police told him about three times to move, but he didn’t. The patrol police didn’t react either. So who will investigate this? No one. They’re all in on it, covering for each other’, Akhobadze continued.
‘What else can I say? Goodbye. Welcome to terrorist Georgia’, he concluded.
Government critics in Georgia have previously claimed that plainclothes police officers or ‘titushkis’ — Ukrainian slang used to describe plainclothes security forces used to attack government critics — have attacked them, with reports of such attacks peaking after major protests. Those who report the attacks often publish photos showing injuries they had sustained.
The Georgian authorities very rarely investigate such reports.
Akhobadze had previously spent time in pre-trial detention following his arrest on drug charges in December 2024. Akhobadze, a doctor by profession and a specialist in anesthesiology and intensive care, was charged with criminal drug possession under an article that carries a sentence of eight to 20 years or life imprisonment.
He was acquitted in August.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
