The Tbilisi City Court sentenced the former First Deputy Head of the State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG), Ioseb Gogashvili, to 5 years in prison. Judge Valerian Bugianishvili found the former high-ranking official guilty of all five charges. Gogashvili pleads not guilty.
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Lawyers state that they will appeal the guilty verdict in the court of appeals.
“The case was entirely politically motivated from the get-go, having nothing to do with law or justice. The judge didn’t even reclassify any part of the case, further indicating that our preliminary assumption regarding the political grounds for the indictment proved right. Ioseb Gogashvili regards today’s processing as a mere formality, stating that his sentencing has long been predetermined,” states Gogashvili’s lawyer, Ramaz Chinchaladze.
Ioseb Gogashvili, who worked as the first deputy head of the State Security Service, was detained by SSSG operatives in a special operation on July 16th, 2022.
According to the prosecutor's Office, Gogashvili extracted information containing state secrets and personal data and kept them at home for private use, amounting to exceeding authority and abuse of power. According to case materials, parts of said information were publicly disseminated, violating the constitutional rights of citizens and causing significant damages by creating a threat of disclosure of state secrets.
Ioseb Gogashvili was charged with illegally obtaining and holding personal secrets; illegally acquiring and storing personal data by abusing entrusted official authority, and spreading it through mass media channels; exceeding authority; deliberate disclosure of state secrets; illegal purchase and storage firearms and ammunition. The offenses are punishable by 4-7 years of imprisonment.
Case prosecutor, Irakli Marshania clarified that Gogashvili received a 5-year sentence taking into account the principle of absorption of punishment. After hearing the reasoned verdict, the prosecution will decide whether to appeal the length of the sentence.
Court hearings were closed.
While in preliminary detainment, Gogashvili, by his own account, exposed former Prime minister and founder of Georgian Dream Bidzina Ivanishvili, Minister of Internal Affairs Vakhtang Gomelauri, and other persons by implicating them in a number of serious crimes, among which were: the kidnapping of Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli, rigging elections, collaborating with Russian intelligence agencies, pressuring judges, mass illegal surveillance, etc. Minister of Internal Affairs denied all accusations.
