Georgian prosecutors have arrested Dito Chubinidze, a journalist at the weekly newspaper Asaval-Dasavali, and say he will be charged with treason. They accuse him of spreading false reports. Those reports claim that Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze handed part of the historic David Gareji monastery complex to Azerbaijan.
The Prosecutor’s Office announced the move on Thursday, 22 October. The charge is sabotage, which carries up to four years in prison. Prosecutors said they will ask a court to hold him in detention while the case continues.
What prosecutors allege
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Chubinidze has spread false and “disinformative” reports since February 2026. He did so through several media outlets and social media platforms, it said. The reports claimed that Kobakhidze signed a secret agreement with a neighbouring state and gave away part of the David Gareji complex.
Prosecutors also accuse him of linking the death of one of his interviewees, Lazare Jorbenadze, to a “revenge killing”. They say he did this to make the story look real. Authorities say Jorbenadze died by suicide in April.
By these actions, prosecutors say, Chubinidze “deliberately carried out sabotage to the detriment of the lawful interests of the Georgian state”. In doing so, they say, he obstructed a state agency and the Government Commission on the Delimitation and Demarcation of the State Border.
The border question
The agency says its investigation “conclusively established” how Georgia’s borders change. A treaty with the neighbouring state must set the line, and Parliament must ratify it. Only the border commission may negotiate and decide such matters.
No agreement on the David Gareji section has been reached within the commission’s mandate, prosecutors said. They added that this procedure “rules out, even theoretically” that a prime minister could hand over territory alone.
Kobakhidze has rejected the claims himself. On 7 September, he said there had been no “written nor verbal agreement” on the Gareji section, Georgia Today reported. He called the allegations a lie and speculation.
Who was Lazare Jorbenadze?
Jorbenadze was a former human rights defender and political activist. He once served as deputy head of Georgia’s counterintelligence service. Later, he became a vocal government critic and a frequent contributor to Asaval-Dasavali.
His last widely discussed interview ran on 2 February. It criticised Kobakhidze and alleged that part of Davit Gareji had been sold. Jorbenadze said he had seen a document, but he offered no evidence. No independent proof has been made public. He died on 4 April.
The Prosecutor’s Office says the investigation has “conclusively established” a suicide. Chubinidze disputes that finding.
How the story developed
| Date | Development |
| 2 February | Asaval-Dasavali publishes Chubinidze’s interview with Jorbenadze. |
| 4 April | Jorbenadze dies. Authorities say it was suicide. |
| 24 August | Former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili is charged with accepting a large bribe. He denies it. |
| 1 September | Garibashvili, writing from prison, asks for the circumstances of Jorbenadze’s death to be clarified. |
| 3 September | Prosecutors question Garibashvili and opposition figures. |
| 7 September | Kobakhidze denies the Davit Gareji claims. |
| 22 October | Prosecutors announce Chubinidze’s arrest. |
Garibashvili’s claims
Claims by Garibashvili, who is in prison, first brought Chubinidze into the public eye. He was sentenced in January to five years for legalising illicit income under a plea deal, JAMnews reported.
Garibashvili says a letter named Chubinidze. He says it came from Mamuka Mdinaradze, a now-resigned Georgian Dream figure. It reportedly warned that conservative figures, including Irma Inashvili and Chubinidze, had “damaged us”. Garibashvili says officials also sent him a copy of Asaval-Dasavali in jail, suspecting he was behind the interview.
He then raised “unanswered questions” about deaths during what he called the “Kobakhidze-Mdinaradze rule”. Prosecutors summoned him and several others for questioning. Prosecutor Medea Tsiramua said his letters rested “solely on information from various publications, rather than any specific facts”. Authorities have not named any of those questioned as suspects.
What is not known
Several points remain open. Times of Georgia found no comment from Chubinidze, his newspaper, his lawyers or press freedom groups in the reports reviewed. No court hearing date has been announced.
The Prosecutor’s Office has not released the evidence behind its case. Prosecutors say the investigation is ongoing and promise more information. OC Media reported a separate case. Opposition figure Giorgi Baramidze was detained on treason charges over statements about alleged executions of Abkhazian prisoners of war.
Why Davit Gareji matters
The medieval monastery complex sits on the border between Georgia and Azerbaijan. Where exactly the line runs has not been fully agreed, and the issue has long been politically sensitive.
In 2020, Georgian Dream escalated its rhetoric on the subject. It indirectly accused the former United National Movement government of handing historic lands to Azerbaijan. That dispute included the “Cartographer’s Case”, which led to the arrest of two state experts. Azerbaijani outlets also reported the arrest of Chubinidze.
The wider picture
The arrest comes in a week of tense news from Georgia. This week, a court also freed activist Tamaz Elizbarashvili after a plea deal. The Constitutional Court is hearing the opposition ban case. An EU report has noted significant backsliding of Georgia’s democracy. Read more in the Georgia section.
