Georgian Prosecutor’s Office brings sabotage case against Dito Chubinidze

Georgia’s Prosecutor General’s Office on Thursday arrested Dito Chubinidze, a representative of the newspaper Asaval-Dasavali, on suspicion of treason in the form of sabotage, pursuant to a court order.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, since February 2026, Chubinidze has systematically disseminated false information and disinformation through various media outlets and social media platforms, claiming, on the basis of what the authorities described as fabricated facts, that Georgia’s Prime Minister had transferred part of the David Gareja monastic complex to Azerbaijan under a secret agreement with the neighboring country.

The Prosecutor’s Office said its investigation had established that Georgia’s state border can be determined through an international treaty or agreement with a neighboring state, which must subsequently be ratified by the Georgian Parliament.

It added that the authority to conduct and conclude negotiations on border delimitation and demarcation rests exclusively with the Georgian Governmental Commission on State Border Delimitation and Demarcation.

According to the statement, no agreement has been reached with the neighboring country on determining the state border in the section encompassing the David Gareja monastic complex.

The Prosecutor’s Office further argued that the applicable legal procedures make it impossible for the Prime Minister to unilaterally transfer territory to another state.

The agency also alleged that, in an attempt to create the public impression that the purported territorial transfer had actually taken place, Chubinidze repeatedly linked the death of his interviewee, Lazare Jorbenadze, to a revenge-motivated murder. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Chubinidze claimed that Jorbenadze had been killed because he had made public information allegedly implicating the Prime Minister.

The Prosecutor’s Office stated that, through these actions, Chubinidze had deliberately engaged in sabotage to the detriment of Georgia’s legitimate state interests, obstructing the normal functioning of a state agency and the Governmental Commission on State Border Delimitation and Demarcation.

Based on the evidence gathered during the investigation, Chubinidze will be formally charged with treason in the form of sabotage, an offense punishable by up to four years in prison, the agency said.

The Prosecutor’s Office added that it would apply to the court within the legally prescribed period to seek pretrial detention as a preventive measure.

“The investigation is ongoing, and we will provide the public with further information on its progress and results”, the agency said at a press briefing.