“Representatives of the ‘Deep State’, or the people they lead, consistently seek to portray specific criminal cases as political matters and subsequently exploit them for their own nefarious ends, and this is precisely what the agency responsible for signing off on everything in our country is attempting to do,” said MP Archil Gorduladze, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs.

According to Gorduladze, claims that Bachiashvili was a political prisoner are baseless lies.

“They fabricated a narrative around a particular criminal case, yet in the end, it remained what it was: a straightforward criminal case. All of those involved, including representatives of the BBC, were dishonest when they labelled Bachiashvili a political prisoner. The BBC’s ill-remembered programme, which repeatedly referenced Bachiashvili by name alongside the claim of his political prisoner status, was riddled with disinformation. It was used solely as one of the grounds to attack our country,” Gorduladze stated.

For context, Giorgi Bachiashvili, former head of the Co-Investment Fund, was released from detention based on a plea agreement. He signed a plea deal in three criminal cases.