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Georgia Former aide to de facto leader 'at risk of torture'
The Guardian
|May 28, 2025
A former aide to the de facto leader of Georgia is at risk of torture, his lawyers have said, after he was arrested and deported to Tbilisi from his place of hiding in Dubai.
Giorgi Bachiashvili fled Georgia after falling out with the billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, the honorary chair of the country's ruling party, for whom he worked for more than a decade, overseeing his personal finances.
Two months ago, Bachiashvili was convicted in absentia by a Georgian court of stealing $42.7m (£31m) said to have been owed to Ivanishvili from a cryptocurrency investment.
While on the run, Bachiashvili accused Ivanishvili of aligning Georgia with Russia out of self-interest, claiming he was willing to sacrifice "the land, any interest for his personal wellbeing and security".
This story is from the May 28, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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