Ex-Deputy Interior Minister Gets Conditional Sentence

Civil Georgia

Former deputy interior minister, Gela Khvedelidze, was given one-year conditional sentence in the Tbilisi City Court on May 14 for breach of privacy rights.

Khvedelidze was arrested last May, when he served as deputy interior minister, and charged in connection to leaking of a secretly recorded threesome sex video, which purportedly featured a man who was accusing Khvedelidze of corruption. He was released on GEL 5,000 bail on May 15, 2013. Irakli Garibashvili, who is now Prime Minister, served as the interior minister at the time.

Khvedelidze’s lawyer said that his client plans to appeal the Tbilisi City Court’s ruling to higher court.