The founder of the Georgian Dream, Bidzina Ivanishvili, is testifying in a closed session in his own case, where he is the victim and the accused is the head of the co-investment fund, Giorgi Bachiashvili.
The prosecutor's office filed a motion to close the session.
As Mikheil Sadradze noted, the argument for partially closing the session is the protection of commercial secrets. In addition, during the questioning, the conversation may touch on the relationship between the bank and the client.
The defense did not agree with this motion. As lawyer Levan Makharashvili explained, the request to close the session for the purpose of commercial secrets should not be justified in general phrases.
The accused Bachiashvili himself called on Judge Giorgi Gelashvili to make an objective decision.
"The whole country knows that closing the process serves to prevent Ivanishvili from publicly answering questions. Please be objective in your assessment," Bachiashvili addressed the court.
The judge granted the prosecution's motion and closed the hearing.
The prosecutor's office requested the remote questioning of Bidzina Ivanishvili, as the victim, using technical equipment at the last hearing. The prosecutor cited the victim's age and ensuring his safety as the grounds for this.
For information, the charges brought against Giorgi Bachiashvili are related to an act committed in 2017. In particular, according to the prosecutor's office, Bachiashvili transferred only 536,900 USD to the investor in exchange for the full profit from the investment, and misappropriated the remaining 8,986 Bitcoins belonging to the investor, the value of which at the time of its misappropriation amounted to up to 43 million USD.
Giorgi Bachiashvili pleads not guilty to the charges.
He has been granted bail of 2,500,000 GEL and additional restrictive measures have also been imposed.
The aforementioned act provides for imprisonment for a term of 9 to 12 years.
