Political prisoner or criminal? The case of a former Georgian state security official
Opinions of defense and prosecution on Soso Gogashvili’s case
On July 18, the Tbilisi City Court fully shared the prosecution’s position and sentenced the former deputy head of the State Security Service of Georgia, Soso Gogashvili, to pre-trial detention as a measure of restraint.
Since the case materials contain confidential documents and personal data, Judge Arsen Kalatozishvili closed the session.
Soso Gogashvili was detained on the night of July 15. His wife shared a video recording of the detention – the video shows the special forces enter the house, knock Gogashvili to the floor and detain him.
A few days prior to Gogashvili’s arrest, on July 13, Giorgi Gachechiladze, a TV presenter close to authorities, released a “scandalous recording” with a conversation of the editorial team of the Post Factum program of the opposition Mtavari channel.
The journalists present in the recording – Giorgi Gabunia, Lasha Kveseladze, Giorgi Gvishiani and Eka Sariya – suggest that their conversation was recorded illegally, probably by the State Security Service.
The recording mentions a scheme for electoral fraud, which, according to the journalists, they received from the former deputy head of the State Security Service, Soso Gogashvili.
Gogashvili’s activity in the State Security Service is associated with several high-profile cases. In 2017, the high-ranking official led a special operation in the Pankisi Gorge during which 19-year-old Temirlan Machalikashvili was killed.
In October 2019, Gogashvili was interrogated by the prosecutor’s office regarding this case, but on January 25, 2020, the Georgian prosecutor’s office stopped the investigation on Machalikashvili’s case. Temirlan’s father Malkhaz Machalikashvili still considers Gogashvili one of the main participants in his son’s case.
Soso Gogashvili worked as the deputy head of the State Security Service in 2015-2018.
The former high-ranking state security officer was arraigned with 3 charges:
- abuse of power by an official, entailing a significant violation of the legal interests of the state;
- illegal storage-receipt-distribution of personal information;
- illegal acquisition and possession of firearms.
Gogashvili’s defense asked the court to release him on a bail of GEL 50,000, but the court did not grant the request.
What the lawyer says
According to Soso Gogashvili’s lawyer Ramaz Chinchaladze, the most important thing in the case of the former high-ranking state security service officer is the complaint of Russian citizen Konstantin Romanovsky, who claims that Gogashvili received and disseminated information about him crossing the border.
As the lawyer explains, there is no evidence in the case that Soso Gogashvili received any material documentation about Romanovsky crossing the border. However, the lawyer points out that there is one episode in the case when Soso Gogashvili asks someone whether a certain person really crossed the border.
“Romanovsky seems to be a rather interesting figure, since this person was checked 54 times in connection with crossing the border. Of these 54, perhaps Soso Gogashvili asked someone to tell him whether this person really entered Georgia, which is not a crime,” says Chinchaladze.
Konstantin Romanovsky claims that he suffered moral damage through disclosure of his personal data. According to the lawyer, there are no other victims in the Gogashvili case.
With regard to the charge of illegal acquisition and possession of firearms, the defense says that there are 5 weapons in total:
“Of these, 2 firearms were planted on the former high-ranking state security service officer, and 3 belong to Gogashvili’s security team member, and they have official documents.”
The lawyer doesn’t have the right to talk about the classified documents, but says that the document did not contain any classified information.
According to him, “it does not in any way concern personal life,” because there are no wiretaps in it or any information reflecting personal life. According to Chinchaladze, the only topic he is aware of is “some issues” and election-related research.
What the prosecutor says
According to the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia, there is a lot of evidence in the case, including protocols of witness interrogation. The prosecutor on the case, Maia Silagadze, says that the investigation began about a year ago, in 2021, with investigative actions being performed for almost a year.
According to Silagadze, if they learn about other persons’ participation in the crime along with Gogashvili, their criminal liability will also be brought forward:
“At this stage, the investigation is ongoing, and after gathering evidence, we will be able to comment on this issue too.”
Torture and inhuman treatment – what Gogashvili says
“I was treated inhumanly, inadequately, my family members were tortured. Underage children were under stress. An ambulance was not called for 4 hours, and I was treated like the worst terrorist. I wasn’t given the right to a lawyer, they didn’t let me call my lawyer, took away absolutely all my phones, and the ultimate insult I experienced was when my former colleagues took me to some criminals, put me in some kind of a hole with no air, and there was “life to thieves” written on the walls. This should not happen, and government officials should not be treated like that,” Gogashvili said at the trial.
Opinions of defense and prosecution on Soso Gogashvili’s case
