Jailed businessman sends files to Helsinki Commission over alleged Georgian-Russian plot targeting US officials

Detained Georgian businessman Giorgi Chikvaidze has announced that, through his representatives, he has submitted documents to the US Helsinki Commission exposing what he describes as a joint operation between Russian and Georgian intelligence services. According to Chikvaidze, the alleged operation involves efforts to recruit high-ranking American officials.

"Friends, today, through my representatives, I submitted documentation to the Helsinki Commission exposing a joint Russian-Georgian intelligence operation targeting the recruitment of senior American officials," Chikvaidze wrote in a message from prison.

This marks the latest in a series of claims made by Chikvaidze, who was detained on March 11 on embezzlement charges and placed in pre-trial detention after initially being released on bail. He has consistently claimed that his arrest is politically motivated and part of a broader conspiracy orchestrated by Georgian authorities in cooperation with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).

In a previous public statement, Chikvaidze accused Russian and Georgian officials of plotting his assassination in prison, disguised as a medical death caused by kidney and blood complications. He claimed to have been poisoned on March 13, leading to partial vision loss, skin damage, and confinement to a wheelchair. He also called for 24-hour surveillance of his prison cell and announced he would no longer consume food or water provided by prison staff.

Chikvaidze has repeatedly alleged that he possesses sensitive information detailing how Russian intelligence, supported by current and former officials from the ruling Georgian Dream party, has targeted Western officials for recruitment.