TBILISI (Realist English). Georgian law enforcement agencies carried out a series of coordinated raids at the homes of former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, ex-head of the State Security Service (SSG) Grigol Liluashvili, former Prosecutor General Otar Partskhaladze, and eight other individuals linked to them, Prosecutor General Giorgi Gvaramidze announced on Wednesday.
According to Gvaramidze, the searches were conducted “in connection with various criminal cases” at 22 sites across the country, with assistance from the SSG’s anti-corruption unit. Investigators reportedly seized electronic devices, documents, and large sums of cash.
The prosecutor general declined to specify which cases the former senior officials are connected to or in what procedural capacity they are involved.
Georgian media outlets have suggested two possible motives behind the operation — political collusion and corruption. Some reports linked the raids to Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s recent statement alleging that a former member of the ruling Georgian Dream party had been cooperating with “radical opposition groups.”
“There was a specific individual, a former member of our team, who worked with these radical opposition figures,” Kobakhidze told the Public Broadcaster on October 15. “They acted on direct hints, instructions, and funding from those forces.”
Another theory circulating in local media is that the searches form part of a broader anti-corruption investigation targeting former ministers and government contractors.
Garibashvili, who resigned as prime minister in late 2023, had faced allegations of misuse of state resources, including using a government aircraft for his son’s travel to the U.S. He officially retired from politics in April 2024.
Under Kobakhidze’s current administration, nearly all ministers once considered Garibashvili’s allies have stepped down. In recent months, former Economy Minister Romeo Mikautadze and ex-Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze were arrested on corruption charges.
In September, the SSG detained several major contractors tied to the Infrastructure Ministry over alleged fraud in multimillion-dollar road repair tenders. One of the accused was reportedly a distant relative of Liluashvili.
Liluashvili, who left his post as SSG chief in April, was also mentioned in opposition media reports about the October 4 unrest. Independent channel Formula claimed he had initially assisted in organizing a protest dubbed a “peaceful revolution,” before allegedly “betraying” its opposition organizers.
Partskhaladze, who served as Georgia’s prosecutor general from 2013 to 2014, is currently under U.S. and U.K. sanctions for alleged links to Russian intelligence services. Now based in Russia, he remains a controversial figure in Georgia, with media outlets repeatedly linking him to the unsolved killing of businessman Levan Jangveladze, the brother of the notorious underworld figure Merab “Sukhumi.”
The latest raids highlight the deepening power struggle within Georgian Dream as the government faces both domestic opposition and international scrutiny ahead of next year’s elections.
