Mother of arrested businessman claims he will reject plea deal, ‘fight to the end’

The mother of detained businessman Giorgi Chikvaidze, Eka Tsereteli, said her son will not agree to any plea bargain and intended to continue fighting the charges against him, as the appeals court upheld the original verdict in the case.

“Giorgi is not going to accept any plea agreement. We intend to fight with dignity, to fight until the end,” Tsereteli told reporters. She added that neither Chikvaidze nor co-defendant Irakli Papiashvili would attend the latest court hearing, describing the proceedings as politically motivated.

Tsereteli noted the prosecution accused her son of wrongdoing related to a failed contract between two limited liability companies. She argued that the transferred funds had been officially acknowledged and returned in a subsequent tranche, insisting the case amounts to political retaliation. “We will endure this as well,” she said.

The Court of Appeals left in force the sentence handed down by the Tbilisi City Court. In May last year, the lower court sentenced Chikvaidze to nine years in prison and co-defendant Irakli Papiashvili to eight years.

Prosecutors had charged Chikvaidze and Papiashvili with the unlawful misappropriation of a large sum of money, allegedly committed by a group acting in prior agreement and using official positions.