Ex-UNM Minister Bacho Akhalaia Sentenced to 2.5 Years Over Calling For ‘Overthrowing Government’
Bacho Akhalaia, former defense minister under the United National Movement government, has been sentenced to two years and six months in prison after being found guilty of “public incitement to overthrow the government” over courtroom statements in which he said Bidzina Ivanishvili and the ruling Georgian Dream government “must be overthrown by all possible means.”
Tbilisi City Court Judge Romeo Tkeshelashvili announced the verdict on July 6, finding Akhalaia, who has already been in pretrial detention since December 2025 over his alleged role in the October 4 unrest, guilty under Article 317 of Georgia’s Criminal Code, which criminalizes “public incitement to change the constitutional order of Georgia through violence, or to overthrow of state power.”
While initial media reports suggested that Bacho Akhalaia was convicted over calling for the “overthrow of Ivanishvili,” prosecutors later dismissed such interpretations as “incorrect,” saying he was convicted over his February courtroom remarks referring to the “overthrow of the government.” According to prosecutors, Akhalaia said, “This government must be overthrown, as quickly and as brutally as possible. By any form and by any means. This is the only way, and we — I, you, and anyone else — have the legitimate right to do this, and the most conscientious among us have an obligation to do so.”
Akhalaia’s February 16 courtroom statement, as quoted in various media sources, features him calling for “overthrowing” both “Ivanishvili” and “this government” in the same remarks.
The charges against him were brought in March, days after his wife, Ani Nadareishvili, published remarks he made during closed court hearings in the October 4 case.
Akhalaia still awaits a verdict in the October 4 case, in which authorities accuse him of leading election-day unrest in Tbilisi, when a group of protesters, responding to calls by rally organizers, attempted to occupy the Atoneli Presidential Palace but were repelled by police. Authorities cite records of Akhalaia’s alleged phone and internet communications with other organizers of the rally as evidence.
A controversial figure during the United National Movement’s time in power, Akhalaia has been convicted in multiple cases related to his conduct while in office since Georgian Dream came to power in 2012. He was arrested that year and released in 2022 after serving sentences in separate cases involving abuse of power, organizing torture, and sexual abuse.
Note: the post was updated July 8 at 16:25 to reflect the July 8 statement by the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia.
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