Former director of Gldani Prison No. 8, Davit Gogoberishvili, has been found dead, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).
The ministry confirmed to BM.GE that an investigation has been launched under Article 115 of the Georgian Criminal Code, which pertains to incitement to suicide. No further details have been released at this stage. However, the InterPressNews (IPN) agency, which first reported the incident, stated that Gogoberishvili’s body was discovered in a garage.
The news follows public controversy surrounding the alleged beating of businessman Giorgi Bachiashvili while in custody at Gldani Prison earlier this summer.
On July 14, reports surfaced that Bachiashvili, former head of the Co-Investment Fund, had been attacked and severely beaten while serving his sentence. In a letter circulated the same day, Bachiashvili claimed that on July 11, he was assaulted inside the prison and required immediate medical care. He was temporarily transferred to the Vivamedi Clinic due to the severity of his injuries but was returned to the prison later that same night.
In his written statement, Bachiashvili also recounted a meeting that allegedly took place a few days prior to the attack. According to him, on July 8, he was summoned by Gogoberishvili, who advised him to disclose information about his bank accounts, cryptocurrency transactions, and account details allegedly on behalf of billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili.
“On July 8, 2025, at 9:00 PM, I was summoned by the head of the N8 institution, Davit Gogoberishvili, who introduced himself in a friendly manner and advised me several times to open all my bank accounts, cryptocurrency turnovers, and account addresses for B. Ivanishvili,” Bachiashvili wrote.
“He was interested in how I would technically manage all this. I replied that under these conditions, when my property and that of my family are being targeted and I am imprisoned in violation of my rights, I did not consider it appropriate. To this, Davit responded: ‘Giorgi, you are not in a position to set conditions; you know that all kinds of people are in prison, both ‘crazy’ and less ‘crazy.’’ The conversation was in a friendly tone, and at that moment I did not perceive it as a threat.”
Following the allegations and public attention surrounding the incident, Gogoberishvili reportedly resigned from his position as director of Gldani Prison.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs has not yet commented on whether Gogoberishvili’s death may be connected to the ongoing investigation into the alleged assault on Bachiashvili.
