Former Georgian Defense Minister Hospitalized After Detention

Security officials sent former Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze to the hospital after his arrest in a case of abuse of power and money laundering. It is alleged that he received a concussion before his arrest.

As reported by "Kavkazsky Uzel", Juansher Burchuladze (also referred to as Jumber) was sacked from the post of defense minister in February 2024, when Irakli Kobakhidze, who took over as prime minister, was forming a new government after the resignation of Irakli Garibashvili's cabinet.

Detained former Georgian defense minister Juansher Burchuladze was taken to hospital instead of a detention center due to a concussion, the State Security Service (SSG) of Georgia reported.

According to the agency, he received the injury several days ago after falling off an ATV in Kakheti. Since the doctor prescribed bed rest for Burchuladze, the State Security Service agreed to the request to transfer him to a medical facility. "During his arrest, Juansher Burchuladze stated that he had fallen off an ATV in Kakheti several days earlier and suffered a mild concussion, which is why the doctor prescribed bed rest and asked to be transferred to a medical facility," the agency said in a statement.

Burchuladze's lawyer said that the former minister "was at home, fell and was injured while moving, he is bedridden," Publika reports.

Burchuladze served as Defense Minister from February 22, 2021 to February 8, 2024. He was a member of the government of Irakli Garibashvili, who left the prime minister's post amid corruption allegations and announced his retirement from politics this spring.

Burchuladze is charged with dir="auto">«legalization of illegal income using official position, associated with the extraction of income on an especially large scale» and «abuse of official powers by a person holding state and political positions» (Part 3 of Article 194 and Part 2 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Georgia(. He faces imprisonment for a term of 9 to 12 years, Interpressnews reports.

The case in which Burchuladze is involved concerns the embezzlement of budget funds during the purchase of MRI equipment for a military hospital. The investigation believes that officials deliberately created a non-competitive environment, inflated the contract price and embezzled more than 1.3 million lari, the agency "News Georgia" writes.

The Burchuladze family, in order to conceal and disguise the source of illegal and/or unjustified property on an especially large scale, in January In 2025, she purchased a plot of land in Spain for 544,000 euros, along with a residential building located on it. In total, according to the State Security Service, the former Minister of Defense legalized 1,593,212 lari of illegal/unjustified income (about 594 thousand US dollars), Interpressnews emphasized.

In addition, as stated by the State Security Service, in order to hide the illegal origin of 544,000 euros, Juansher Burchuladze did not indicate the property purchased in Spain in the official's declaration of property in March 2025.

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