Sokhumi Detains Georgian Citizen on Suspicion of Spying for Tbilisi

2026-03-13 - 11:25

The de facto authorities of occupied Abkhazia reported the detention of Emzar Bagishvili, a Georgian citizen with an “Abkhaz residence permit,” on suspicion of spying for Tbilisi. According to the region’s de facto security service, Bagishvili, born in 1968, was detained on March 10 in the village of Okumi in the Tkvarcheli district. Bagishvili was “engaged in collecting and transmitting information to an employee of Georgia’s special services about the socio-political situation in the Republic, as well as about the routes of movement of military equipment and transport,” Abkhazia’s de facto security service said. He was charged with espionage. The de facto agency added that “such instances of cooperation with Georgian special services are suppressed at the stage of an attempt, which makes it possible to prevent damage to the interests of the Republic of Abkhazia.” The State Security Service of Georgia told RFE/RL’s Georgian Service that a “hotline” has been activated and that the details of the case are being clarified. Also Read: 31/12/2025 – Tamar Mearakishvili Released From Detention in Tskhinvali 23/12/2025 – Tskhinvali Detains Civic Activist Tamar Mearakishvili on ‘Espionage’ Allegations 05/10/2025 – Sokhumi Detains Georgian National in Gali on ‘Espionage’ Charges 10/06/2025 – TASS: Russian Detained in Sokhumi Over ‘Espionage’ for Ukraine, Possible Terrorist Plot