TBILISI, September 16 – A Tbilisi court on Wednesday sentenced former State Security Service chief Grigol Liluashvili to 13 years in prison for corruption.
The judge at Tbilisi City Court found Liluashvili guilty in four cases, involving the Tbilisi kindergarten management agency, fraudulent call centers and two bribery episodes involving former deputy economy minister Romeo Mikautadze, Interpressnews reported.
The specific charge that prosecutors brought against Liluashvili is defined as ‘accepting particularly large bribes as part of a group acting by prior agreement,’ an offense carrying 11 to 15 years in prison. He was arrested on December 23, 2025, after going to the Prosecutor’s Office for questioning.
In the kindergarten case, prosecutors alleged that officials received kickbacks and that part of the money was passed to Liluashvili in return for his protection of the scheme. In another episode, prosecutors accused him of using his influence to protect fraudulent call centers. The remaining two counts concerned bribes prosecutors said were delivered to Liluashvili through Mikautadze.
Liluashvili denied all four allegations throughout the trial, with his defense attorney stating that prosecutors had failed to produce evidence proving the charges. The defense also challenged Mikautadze’s testimony, which was central to two of the four episodes. On Tuesday, defense lawyer Lana Tsertsvadze said the prosecution had failed to establish that Liluashvili had committed any of the alleged crimes.
Prosecutor Mariam Berdzenishvili took the position that witness testimony and other evidence supported the prosecution case in all four of the cases. She pointed in particular to testimony concerning the kindergarten and call-center allegations, as well as Mikautadze’s claim that he personally delivered a bribe to Liluashvili at the State Security Service.
After the verdict, Tsertsvadze said the defense would appeal, maintaining that the evidence did not support a conviction. She said she did not expect Liluashvili to serve the full 13-year sentence.
Berdzenishvili said she expected an appeal because Liluashvili had consistently denied the charges. She defended the proceedings as fair and said the prosecution evidence had met the standard required for conviction.
