“Anri Okhanashvili [the Head of the State Security Service of Georgia, SSSG] was aboard the plane I was abducted with,” the jailed former Co-Investment Fund head Giorgi Bachiashvili told Tbilisi City Court on Monday.

Bachiashvili said he was brought to Georgia “in violation of all norms.”

“When Bidzina Ivanishvili saw he couldn’t directly recruit me into his state service, he demanded I start publishing anti-Western and anti-Georgian articles, which Shatirishvili continues to publish to this day. That was the exact point at which the dispute between us began.

In violation of all norms, with a sack over my head, illegally, in breach of international and Georgian law, they brought me to Georgia. This was a special operation orchestrated by Ivanishvili and carried out by the State Security Service. Anri Okhanashvili was aboard the plane I was abducted with. The State Security Service is investigating an international crime committed by itself,” Bachiashvili stated.

Giorgi Bachiashvili was remanded in custody on 5 March on charges of illegally crossing the border. Additionally, he has been sentenced to 11 years in jail for embezzling cryptocurrencies.

Bachiashvili was arrested 27 May.