Georgian MP Ronald Akhalaia facing 10,000 GEL bail

Georgian Member of Parliament Ronald Akhalaia’s bail has been set at 10000 Gel by a Georgian court of law.

The prosecutor asked for bail to be set at 50000 GEL but this was rejected by the court and instead, a 10,000 GEL bond was imposed, said Akhalaia’s lawyer Romeo Sajaia.

The MP has been stripped of his absolute immunity rights and has been charged by the Chief Prosecutor’s Office on two counts of abusing official power while serving as the Chief Prosecutor of the Samegrelo region in 2009.

A court prosecutor claimed while Akhalia served as the Chief Prosecutor of Samegrelo region in 2009, he forced relatives of prisoners to transfer money to a private business account. In one instance he has been accused of unlawfully gaining 150,000 GEL and 60,000 GEL in another instance, in exchange for plea bargaining deals.

Akhalaia is the father of former Defense Minister Bacho Akhalaia, who has been in prison since November 2012 after being cleared in two criminal trials but was found guilty in a third case. He was pardoned last year by ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili.

Several trials relating to other charges against Bacho Akhalaia, who currently remains in pre-trial detention, are pending.

Akhalaia’s other son, former Senior Interior Ministry Official Data Akhalaia, was found guilty by Tbilisi City Court of abusing official power in a case related to beating of policemen in 2005. He was sentenced to 3 years and 9 months in jail in absentia.