TBILISI (Realist English). A Tbilisi city court has ordered pre-trial detention for former Georgian defense minister Juansher Burchuladze, who was arrested on corruption charges linked to defense procurement and undeclared foreign property.
Prosecutors accuse Burchuladze of abusing his position in the purchase of an MRI scanner for a military hospital. Investigators allege that he and other officials deliberately created a non-competitive tender environment, inflating the contract price by 1.3 million lari (about $480,000).
The case has already seen the arrest of former deputy defense minister Giorgi Khaindrava, ex-procurement head Vladimir Gudushauri, and Burchuladze’s son-in-law Vasil Mkheidze, all charged with misappropriation of public funds.
Authorities further claim that in January 2025, Burchuladze bought a house and land in Spain for €544,000 using undeclared funds. To disguise the transfer, prosecutors say his wife arranged a fictitious property sale in Georgia worth €620,000 in late 2024, along with fabricated loan agreements. The property was not listed in Burchuladze’s asset declaration.
Burchuladze denies wrongdoing. He told the court he financed the Spanish purchase through the legal sale of his mother’s apartment and a mortgage on his own home near Tbilisi. “The indictment is unprepared and motivated by something entirely different,” he said, calling his arrest “absurd.”
Appearing in court after being hospitalized for a concussion, the former minister insisted he was being unfairly targeted: “I am the father of eight children. With a head injury, you want to send me to prison.”
Defense lawyers requested bail, but the court upheld the prosecution’s petition for detention, citing risks that the accused might abscond, tamper with evidence, or pressure witnesses. If convicted, Burchuladze faces nine to twelve years in prison.
Burchuladze served as Georgia’s defense minister from February 2021 to February 2024 in the cabinet of then-prime minister Irakli Garibashvili, who stepped down earlier this year amid corruption allegations and announced his withdrawal from politics.
