Tamaz Goloev, a student from Akhalgori detained on espionage charges, has been placed in pre-trial detention for a period of two months.
During the proceedings, the 27-year-old student broke his silence and stated that he does not plead guilty. Goloev did not have his own lawyer today. Only one court-appointed lawyer was present at the hearing, representing Goloev’s interests as well as those of two other defendants. (Charges have been filed against the two other individuals in absentia; their identities remain unknown.)
It should be noted that the case has been classified, and therefore the proceedings were held behind closed doors, restricted from the media and the public. According to the State Security Service (SSS), the Counterintelligence Department detained a Georgian citizen on charges of espionage—specifically, the collection and transfer of information on the instructions of a foreign intelligence service.
According to the agency, the detainee was recruited by a foreign intelligence service, assigned a code name, and acted against Georgia’s interests in exchange for financial compensation.
According to the agency’s data, the individual detained in the espionage case was tasked with gathering information in Georgia on the following: the locations, personnel, and assets of Georgian law enforcement structures—the State Security Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Ministry of Defense—as well as conducting photo and video surveillance of these sites; the location of strategic facilities in Georgia, including bridges, highways, railways, and other infrastructure, as well as photographing and filming these locations, among other tasks.
Individual Detained in Tbilisi on Espionage Charges Identified as Akhalgori Resident
