Robert Amsterdam says it is not too late to hold Georgia accountable for violations of rule of law.

LONDON, Jan. 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Robert Amsterdam, the founding partner of Amsterdam & Partners LLP, has denounced the former Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili ahead of the January 23 trial phase of court hearings against his client, George Bachiashvili.

The criminal case being brought against Bachiashvili relates to allegations of misappropriation and legalization of unlawful income. However, Amsterdam argues that Bachiashvili had fully repaid the 2015 loan to Cartu Bank, owned by Ivanishvili, and has documentation to prove it.

"There is no doubt that this show trial against Bachiashvili is taking place outside the rule of law, in violation of Georgian and international law, at the behest of the sanctioned oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili," said Amsterdam. "It is not too late for Western governments to take action against Ivanishvili with strengthened sanctions. Our firm is focusing on his French citizenship and working with an international team to explore all actions to hold him accountable."

Ahead of the trial hearing, Amsterdam & Partners is publishing a new paper, "Countdown: How to Hold Bidzina Ivanishvili Accountable for his Assault on Democracy, His Kleptocratic Theft of Georgia's Euro-Atlantic Future, and the Show Trial against George Bachiashvili." The paper, which serves as an afterword to the May 2024 white paper on the Bachiashvili case, contains testimony from former members of the Georgian judiciary who accuse Ivanishvili of manipulating the judicial system for his own private interests, including via the so-called "Clan of Judges," who were sanctioned by the US government in 2023.

"There is still time to take effective action against Ivanishvili and persuade him to change course allow oxygen back into Georgia's democracy and judicial system," Amsterdam writes in the paper. "His blatant and unrestrained manipulations of the judicial system to benefit his own personal enrichment represents the ultimate betrayal of public trust, deserving of the strongest penalties."

"Countdown" can be downloaded at www.bidzinaslaw.com and more information about the firm is available at www.amsterdamandpartners.com.

James Kimer
Press representative
Media Theory
jk@mediatheory.com

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SOURCE Amsterdam & Partners LLP