Former Head of Georgia's State Security Service Sent to Prison

The Tbilisi City Court has placed former head of Georgia's State Security Service, Grigol Liluashvili, in pretrial detention. The defendant did not attend the hearing because he "has not yet reviewed the case materials." A preliminary hearing will take place on February 16.

"I believe I will not be able to review the case materials within 24 hours. I express my respect to the court, but until I review the case materials, I have no desire to attend the hearing. Attorney Robert Grigalashvili represents my interests," Radio Liberty quotes the defendant's letter, read by his lawyer.

On December 23, it was reported that former head of Georgia's State Security Service, Grigol Liluashvili, had been detained. Prior to this, the official had been questioned by the prosecutor's office.

Liluashvili is accused of covering up fraudulent call centers, which, according to the prosecutor's office, sponsored Georgian opposition media. For his actions, the defendant allegedly received a bribe of approximately $1,365,000 through a relative of Sandro Liluashvili.

Furthermore, the Georgian prosecutor's office accuses Liluashvili of receiving $1 million from a Turkish investor for lobbying for the signing of a memorandum related to the construction of wind farms in the country. It is also alleged that the official demanded and received 1,500,000 lari from Giorgi Khajalia, founder of ExpressService 2008, for assistance with gasification tenders. Both incidents occurred in February 2022.

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