Giorgi Bachiashvili, the former head of Georgia’s Co-Investment Fund, has released a statement from penitentiary facility No. 18, claiming he was violently assaulted in his prison cell by an unidentified individual.

In a written statement, Bachiashvili describes an incident that took place on the evening of July 11, when an unknown man entered his cell and physically attacked him. The inmate alleges that this was “a deliberate provocation” linked to pressure he has been facing related to his financial assets.

“At around 7 PM, an unfamiliar man entered the cell. When I asked his name, he replied aggressively, saying, ‘Here, I ask the questions.’ I quickly realized he had been sent in to provoke me,” Bachiashvili wrote.

According to his statement, the intruder began verbally abusing him, then escalated to physical violence — punching him, biting him on the shoulder, and smashing a glass teacup over his head.

“I lost consciousness for a short time. When I came to, he was still hitting me and trying to stab the broken glass into my neck and face. He managed to cut my wrist,” Bachiashvili recounts.

Following the assault, Bachiashvili says he was seen by a prison doctor and requested medical transfer to the private Vivamedi Clinic due to severe headaches, nausea, and sensitivity to light. After fainting again during treatment and repeated requests to contact his lawyer and the Public Defender’s office, which were denied, he was eventually transferred to Vivamedi.

“I requested to stay in the hospital, but was refused,” Bachiashvili says, adding that he was forcibly returned to Penitentiary No. 8.

On the morning of July 12, suffering from symptoms consistent with a concussion, he refused food and demanded a transfer to another medical facility. Later that day, he was moved to Penitentiary No. 18, where he says he was finally allowed to contact the Public Defender’s office only after launching a hunger strike.

“I believe this attack was part of an ongoing campaign to illegally seize my assets through intimidation. I am requesting to remain in solitary confinement under video surveillance. Otherwise, my life and health will remain in danger,” Bachiashvili warned.