Bacho Akhalaia was convicted in a case regarding calls for the overthrow of the government.

The Tbilisi City Court sentenced former Minister of Defense of Georgia Bacho Akhalaia to 2.5 years in prison for a statement about the need to overthrow the government of Ivanishvili.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on March 9, it became known that Bacho Akhalaia became a suspect in a new criminal case - regarding calls for the overthrow of the government. He faces up to three years in prison for this charge. Akhalaia refused to admit guilt.

Today, by the decision of the judge of the Tbilisi City Court Romeo Tkeshelashvili, former Minister of Defense of Georgia during the rule of the "National Movement" Bacho Akhalaia was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison, reported the Pirveli television company today.

He was accused of calls for the violent change of the constitutional order of Georgia and the overthrow of the state government for a statement made at a closed session: "Bidzina Ivanishvili and his government must be overthrown".

Bacho Akhalaia's lawyer, Gia Gorozia, called the guilty verdict against Akhalaia a precedent-setting decision. Gorozia emphasized that the crime was recognized as the freedom of speech of the defendant, expressed during the trial.

"If a crime was committed and prosecutors and a judge with sufficient qualifications were present in the courtroom, but none of them called for him to stop and not make such statements," the lawyer said.

According to the lawyer, Bacho Akhalaia repeatedly stated during the trial that this was his position, not a call, but before the verdict was announced, the court emphasized that it considered the evidence presented by the prosecution sufficient, that Bacho Akhalaia's statement was a public call, and sentenced him to 2.5 years in prison for it.

"The decision is completely illegal. This decision is completely unfounded, unjust, we will appeal it within the time limits established by law. However, we do not expect that the Appeals Court will make a fair decision and recognize Bacho Akhalaia as innocent," the defender stated.

The prosecution stated that it was satisfied with the verdict. According to prosecutor Ana Lekiaashvili, the phrase spoken by Bacho Akhalaia in court contained signs of a crime, for which the State Security Service began an investigation.

"The statement of any person, if it is an expression of their opinion and is public, contains a direct call for the overthrow of the government and if it is addressed to all persons in general, falls under the action of this article," Lekiaashvili stated.

At the end of 2025, Akhalaia was detained in another criminal case - for attempting to storm the presidential palace on October 4. In this case, he faces up to 9 years in prison if found guilty of organizing and leading group violence.

The attempt to seize the presidential palace was doomed to failure and gave the current authorities a new opportunity to pressure the opposition. The chances of a peaceful change of power remain only if the opposition overcomes its disunity, analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" pointed out.

On October 4, municipal elections were held in all municipalities of Georgia. Candidates from the ruling "Georgian Dream" were elected mayors in all 64 cities where elections were held, and in 26 of them received 100% of the votes. These elections determined the political balance in Georgia for the coming years, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "Municipal elections in Georgia on October 4, 2025".

Materials on the recent municipal elections and protests by opposition supporters have been collected by the "Caucasian Knot" on the thematic page "Georgia: Protests after the elections".