Late IT specialist Bachaliashvili’s parents stage protest outside Rustavi prison

The parents of Tamar Bachaliashvili, a young Georgian programmer found dead in 2020, have staged a protest outside Rustavi Penitentiary Facility No. 12, calling on former prime minister Irakli Garibashvili and former State Security Service chief Grigol Liluashvili to disclose what they know about cases they allege have been concealed.

Bachaliashvili’s mother, Teona Tamazashvili, said the family had sent letters to both men several weeks earlier, demanding that they acknowledge alleged involvement in her daughter’s death and identify others they claim were involved.

The family said it had not received confirmation that the letters had reached their intended recipients, prompting the protest outside the prison.

Bachaliashvili, 23, disappeared on 18 July 2020. Her body was found four days later inside her car in a wooded area of Tetritskaro municipality.

The Prosecutor’s Office concluded its investigation in December 2020, determining that she died from medication intoxication and that no crime had been committed against her. The case was closed.

Her family has consistently rejected the suicide finding and called for the case to be reopened.

In August 2026, the Prosecutor’s Office reiterated that the investigation had found no evidence of a criminal act against Bachaliashvili and said there were no legal grounds to reopen the case.