Until 2026, espionage charges in Georgia rarely became the subject of broad public discussion. However, over the past few months, the State Security Service (SSSG) has initiated several criminal cases under Article 314 of the Criminal Code, which provides for liability for espionage. The authorities describe what is happening as the result of a successful counterintelligence operation. However, the closed nature of the investigations and the limited amount of publicly available information raise a broader question: is a new practice emerging in Georgia in which espionage charges are becoming a tool of pressure not only against actual agents of foreign states, but also against journalists and representatives of the non-governmental sector whose activities are connected with international contacts and foreign funding?
Such suspicions are fueled by Georgia’s democratic backsliding under the Georgian Dream party which has been ruling the country since 2012 and is controlled by the country’s eminence gris, controversial oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili. The government policies caused a rift in Georgia’s relations with its Western partners, the European Union and the United States.
A pro-Western Journalist…
On May 30, the State Security Service of Georgia announced the detention of two citizens as part of investigations under the espionage article. Initially, the agency did not disclose the names of those detained, but it soon became known that one of them was journalist Irakli Chikhladze.
Chikhladze is well known in Georgia as a journalist and expert on regional issues. In addition to serving as the editor-in-chief of the analytical portal NewCaucasus, he is the founder of the Caucasus Institute for Human Rights and the Caucasus Center for Civic Hearings. For many years, he organized expert meetings and public discussions devoted to conflict resolution, security, and political processes in the South Caucasus. His portal cooperated with international organizations and, over the years, implemented projects supported by Western foundations, including USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
Additional attention to the case was drawn by the journalist's personal story. Irakli Chikhladze is the brother of Gigi Chikhladze, a journalist who was killed during the Russo-Georgian War in August 2008.
According to the SSSG, Chikhladze acted on the instructions of a foreign intelligence service and coordinated the activities of a network of individuals engaged in collecting information. The investigation claims that he used his professional contacts in journalistic, expert, and public circles to obtain information about political and economic processes in the country, as well as about the activities of law enforcement agencies and security services.
The SSSG's statement also says that the journalist allegedly distributed financial resources received from abroad, organized the work of members of the network, and supervised the transfer of the collected information to the foreign side. According to the investigation, he regularly traveled outside Georgia to receive new instructions and meet with representatives of foreign intelligence services.
At the same time, the State Security Service has not disclosed on behalf of which specific state was Chikhladze allegedly acting. A significant portion of the criminal case materials remains classified, and the lawyers have signed non-disclosure obligations regarding the information contained in the investigation materials.
On May 31, the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia charged the journalist under Part One of Article 314 of the Criminal Code. The maximum penalty under this article is twelve years of imprisonment.
On June 1, the Tbilisi City Court ordered pretrial detention for Irakli Chikhladze as a preventive measure for the duration of the investigation. The defense requested his release without the application of any restrictive measures, but the court granted the prosecution's motion.
Irakli Chikhladze is rejecting the charges. After reviewing the case materials, his lawyer, Giorgi Gelkhiauri, stated that he had found no evidence confirming the journalist's involvement in intelligence activities or actions against the interests of Georgia. Gelkhiauri said he cannot disclose the contents of the investigation materials because he has signed a non-disclosure agreement. At the same time, he argues that the materials presented by the investigation do not contain information that could substantiate such a serious accusation.
…and a pro-Russian activist
If the figure of Irakli Chikhladze came as a surprise to many observers, the name of the second person detained on May 30 — Gulbaat Rtskhiladze — had long been associated with pro-Russian public activity.
Rtskhiladze heads the Eurasia Institute and has for many years advocated the normalization of relations between Tbilisi and Moscow. He has regularly criticized Georgia's course toward Euro-Atlantic integration, participated in public events dedicated to May 9, and supported initiatives aimed at developing cooperation with Russia.
A few days before his detention, Rtskhiladze announced the creation of the "Council for Monitoring and Combating Russophobia." According to him, the new body was intended to document cases of negative attitudes toward Russia and publicly report on politicians, journalists, and public figures who, in the opinion of its organizers, contribute to the spread of Russophobic sentiment in Georgia.
Rtskhiladze's name has also repeatedly appeared in journalistic investigations into the activities of the organization "Pravfond," which has been linked to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other Russian state institutions. Rtskhiladze himself denied such allegations.
According to the SSSG, he cooperated with the intelligence services of two foreign states, collected intelligence information, organized various public events with their financial support, and met with representatives of foreign intelligence services both in Georgia and abroad.
At the same time, Irakli Chikhladze's lawyer points out that, according to him, there is no connection whatsoever between the two investigations.
Espionage cases and the government's campaign against opponents
The detentions of Chikhladze and Rtskhiladze were not the only recent espionage cases in Georgia. In April and May, the State Security Service also announced several other investigations under Article 314 of the Criminal Code. Among those under investigation were former Ministry of Finance employee Giorgi Udzilauri, as well as a resident of the Akhalgori district. According to the investigation, both also passed information to foreign intelligence services.
The authorities view these criminal proceedings as elements of a single large-scale counterintelligence campaign. According to the SSSG, the investigations are the result of many years of work to identify individuals acting in the interests of foreign states.
It is noteworthy that the alleged connections of the defendants are not limited to Russia. While public discussion surrounding espionage cases has traditionally focused on the Russian direction, in some of the investigations government representatives pointed to the defendants' cooperation with the intelligence services of other states. This has broadened the discussion about how threats to national security are interpreted in Georgia today.
The Chikhladze case also came under the spotlight because of the broader political context of the past two years. In May 2024, the Parliament of Georgia adopted the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence despite mass protests and criticism from the European Union, the United States, and international human rights organizations. The law required non-governmental organizations and media outlets receiving more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register in a special state registry.
Government representatives argued that the law was aimed solely at increasing the transparency of funding and did not restrict the activities of civil society. Critics, on the contrary, warned that the document could become a tool for strengthening state control over the non-governmental sector and independent media.
Throughout 2024 and 2025, representatives of the ruling party repeatedly spoke about attempts at foreign interference in Georgia's internal affairs and criticized organizations operating with the support of foreign donors. International funding increasingly became the subject of political controversy.
Against this backdrop, the case of Irakli Chikhladze acquired additional significance. This is not simply a case involving a journalist charged with espionage. It concerns a person whose professional activities were closely connected with international contacts, research projects, and cooperation with foreign organizations. It is precisely this circumstance that became one of the reasons why the case generated broad resonance among representatives of the media and the expert community.
Experts note that it is still premature to say that a new practice of applying the espionage article has taken shape in Georgia. None of these criminal cases has yet been examined by a court on the merits, and the guilt of the accused has not been established. Nevertheless, the series of investigations in 2026 has already changed the nature of public discussion. Whereas previously espionage charges were associated primarily with the activities of foreign intelligence services, they have now, for the first time, affected members of the journalistic community.
The final answer to the question of whether this is merely a coincidence of circumstances or a sign of broader changes in the state's approach to national security issues will be provided by the court proceedings. However, even today these cases raise the question of where, in contemporary Georgia, the boundary lies between the state's legitimate counterintelligence activities and the risk that espionage charges may have a chilling effect on independent journalism.
