Tbilisi City Court convicts blogger and his wife

The Tbilisi City Court has found blogger and military expert Ucha Abashidze and his wife, Mariam Iashvili, guilty of the charges of the illegal purchase and possession of weapons, as well as the illegal recording and possession of video footage capturing the private lives of individuals.

The court sentenced Ucha Abashidze to five years in prison, while his wife to four years.

The court hearing was held behind closed doors.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia detained blogger Ucha Abashidze on May 9, 2024. The MIA also detained Ucha Abashidze’s wife Mariam Iashvili.

According to the investigation, Ucha Abashidze, together with his wife, planned to illegally obtain and store materials depicting intimate relationships of various persons. The investigation determined that the accused secretly installed various video-audio devices in their residential apartment, through which they illegally carried out the obtaining and storing of various persons’ private life secrets.