Ruling party secretary mocks jailed businessman Bachiashvili’s abduction claims

Mamuka Mdinaradze, executive secretary of Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party, has sarcastically welcomed claims made by a former Co-Investment Fund Head Giorgi Bachiashvili that the head of the State Security Service, Anri Okhanashvili, personally accompanied him aboard the plane during detention operation to bring him back to Georgia.

“I urge everyone not to dismiss this version — if true, it would double the prestige of the State Security Service,” Mdinaradze said during a briefing on Monday. “According to Bachiashvili’s version, Anri Okhanashvili personally conducted a special operation in another country and flew back to Georgia with a convicted criminal. We’ve seen such things in the movies, heard about them, and watched with great interest, so let’s not reject this version outright.”

Mdinaradze added that an official investigation was already underway and would provide comprehensive answers.

“To be serious, I understand that the investigation has already been launched and is legally obliged to examine all aspects of this case, including the details of his arrest. I’m sure the investigation will provide thorough and exhaustive answers to all questions. But I won’t oppose Bachiashvili’s version — simply because I like it very much,” Mdinaradze stressed.

Bachiashvili, the jailed close associate of the GD founder billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, made the explosive claim at Tbilisi City Court earlier this week. He alleged that Okhanashvili, who leads Georgia’s State Security Service, was aboard the plane that forcibly transported him from abroad.

“This was a special operation ordered by Ivanishvili and carried out by the State Security Service. Mr. Anri Okhanashvili was on the plane I was abducted with,” Bachiashvili told the court on June 9.

Bachiashvili had fled Georgia in early March, shortly before being sentenced in absentia to eleven years in prison on charges of negligence, embezzlement, and money laundering related to a controversial hydropower project. On May 27, Georgian authorities announced he had been arrested near the so-called “green border” with Armenia and Azerbaijan. During a previous court appearance, Bachiashvili claimed he had been kidnapped abroad, blindfolded, and held for two days before being put on a Georgian Airways Bombardier plane and “illegally” returned to Georgia.