Georgia's former defense minister has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term for corruption.

The Tbilisi City Court sentenced former Georgian Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze to 10 years in prison on corruption and money laundering charges.

As reported by Caucasian Knot, in September 2025, security forces detained former Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze on charges of abuse of power and money laundering. Burchuladze was sent to the hospital. It was alleged that he suffered a concussion before his arrest. The court later rejected the defense's bail request and remanded him in custody. Juansher Burchuladze was dismissed from his post as Defense Minister in February 2024, when Irakli Kobakhidze, who had become Prime Minister, was forming a new government following the resignation of Irakli Garibashvili's cabinet. Burchuladze was found guilty of abuse of office and money laundering on an especially large scale. The maximum penalty for these charges is 12 years, Newsgeorgia reported.

In addition to the 10-year prison sentence, the court ordered the confiscation of the former high-ranking official's family property—a villa in Spain and a house in the elite village of Tskneti near Tbilisi. These assets are intended to compensate for damages, which the prosecutor's office estimated at nearly 8 million lari (approximately $3 million). Burchuladze was also banned from holding public office for two years.

The case against the former minister concerns, among other things, the purchase of an MRI machine for a military hospital. Former Deputy Defense Minister Giorgi Khaindrava, former head of the procurement department Vladimir Gudushauri, and the former minister's brother-in-law, Vasil Mkheidze, were also charged with embezzlement of budget funds in this case. Investigators believe the group intentionally created a non-competitive environment and inflated the contract price, pocketing the difference.

Khaindrava and Mkheidze each received eight-year prison sentences. Khaindrava was also banned from public service for two years, and Mkheidze's items used as evidence in the case will be confiscated.

Gudushauri was the only one to avoid a prison sentence. He entered into a plea bargain with the prosecutor's office, admitted his guilt, and testified against his former superiors. The court sentenced him to four years' probation, a fine of 10,000 lari (approximately $3,500), and a one-year ban on holding public office.

According to Burchuladze's lawyer, Khatuna Khurtsilava, the verdict will be appealed, as her client maintains his innocence, Pirveli TV reports.

"We will definitely appeal this decision. We believed that the court would at least partially render a reasonable decision, that is, an acquittal, but in any case, we will appeal it. We did not expect a guilty verdict, since the prosecution was based solely on Gudushauri's testimony," Khatuna Khurtsilava stated.

The former minister did not appear for the sentencing. His lawyer attributed this to a lack of faith in a fair trial.

Burchuladze served as Defense Minister from February 2021 to February 2024 in Irakli Garibashvili's government. The former prime minister himself is currently serving a sentence: in January, a court sentenced him to five years in prison under a plea bargain after pleading guilty to illegal entrepreneurship and money laundering.

The "Caucasian Knot" also reported that in February 2026, former Economy Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Levan Davitashvili left the country after being questioned by the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the State Security Service.