Dito Chubinidze, a journalist from the Asaval-Dasavali weekly newspaper, has been arrested and will be charged with treason as the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia accuses him of deliberately spreading false reports about Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze handing parts of the historic David Gareji complex to Azerbaijan.
The prosecution follows a controversy surrounding a series of allegations made by jailed former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, who, among others, raised questions about the alleged suicide of Lazare Jorbenadze, a commentator who, in months preceding his death, made similar accusations against Kobakhidze in Asaval-Dasavali, a conservative publication known for conspiratorial reporting.
Chubinidze will be charged “with high treason, particularly sabotage” and face up to four years in prison, the Prosecutor’s Office said on October 22.
Since February 2026, Chubinidze “has systematically disseminated false and disinformative reports through various media outlets and social media platforms and has claimed, based on fabricated facts, that the Prime Minister of Georgia, under a secret agreement concluded with a neighboring state, transferred part of the David Gareji Monastery Complex to the Republic of Azerbaijan,” the Prosecutor’s Office said.
According to the agency, the investigation “conclusively established” that the state border “is determined by an international treaty or agreement concluded with the neighboring state, which subsequently requires ratification by the Parliament of Georgia, while the authority to conduct negotiations and make decisions on matters concerning the delimitation and demarcation of the border is vested exclusively in the Government Commission on the Delimitation and Demarcation of the State Border of Georgia.”
Prosecutors say that no such agreement regarding the delimitation or demarcation along the David Gareji section has been reached within the Commission’s mandate, adding that the statutory procedure “rules out, even theoretically” that Kobakhidze may have singlehandedly handed the territory to another state.
The agency further said that Chubinidze, to create a “real perception” of a fabricated story in the public, has “repeatedly linked” the death of his respondent, Lazare Jorbenadze, to “revenge killing” prompted by Jorbenadze’s disclosure of incriminating information about Kobakhidze.
By that, Chubinidze “deliberately carried out sabotage to the detriment of the lawful interests of the Georgian state, thereby obstructing the normal functioning of a state agency and the Government Commission on the Delimitation and Demarcation of the State Border of Georgia,” the agency concluded.
Garibashvili and Asaval-Dasavali Controversy
Chubinidze came to the public spotlight through a series of allegations made by former PM Garibashvili about being pressured by former colleagues to take blame in a corruption case in order to stay away from politics for good. The journalist’s name was mentioned in the alleged letter of pressure that Garibashvili claimed was sent to him by Mamuka Mdinaradze, a now-resigned Georgian Dream figure.
The alleged letter, published on Garibashvili’s social media page, warned about anticipated corruption charges that purportedly followed the actions of Georgian conservative figures such as Irma Inashvili and Dito Chubinidze and campaigns “organized” on social media. “‘Supporters like Irma Inashvili and Dito Chubinidze and the campaigns organized on social media have sown serious suspicions and greatly damaged us,” the alleged letter read.
The controversy escalated after Garibashvili was indeed charged with bribery, and he made subsequent allegations that the pressure on him increased in February, when a copy of an Asaval-Dasavali was sent to him in jail “on the instruction of” Kobakhidze and Mdinaradze. Garibashvili said he was told about “suspicions” that he was behind an interview by Chubinidze with “former rights defender” Lazare Jorbenadze, which was “mainly devoted to criticism of Kobakhidze and serious allegations against him.”
Garibashvili then pointed to “unanswered questions” over the suicides of “multiple” people during the “Kobakhidze-Mdinaradze rule,” including Jorbenadze, who died by alleged suicide in April. In months preceding his death, Jorbenadze had accused Kobakhidze of handing lands to Azerbaijan, including in a series of comments given to Asaval-Dasavali.
The ensuing debate led the authorities to summon Garibashvili, opposition members, and conservative figures for questioning over Jorbenadze’s death, even if the prosecutors argued the investigation had “conclusively established” that he had died by suicide.
In 2020, Georgian Dream has escalated rhetoric, led by Garibashvili, indirectly accusing the former United National Movement government of handing historic lands to Azerbaijan, including through the controversial Cartographer’s Case that led to the arrest of two state experts at the time.
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