20:45, 24 March 2026

A Georgian citizen has been arrested in Abkhazia in connection with an espionage case.

An Abkhaz court has ordered Georgian citizen Emzar Bagishvili, suspected of espionage, to be remanded in custody for two months.

As reported by the Caucasian Knot, the Abkhaz security service stated that Georgian citizen Emzar Bagishvili, born in 1968, was detained on March 10, and on March 12, a case of espionage was opened against him.

Bagishvili is suspected of collecting and transmitting information concerning the socio-political situation in Abkhazia, as well as military equipment and transport routes. Social media users questioned the Abkhaz investigators' version that the detained Georgian citizen was gathering information about the situation in the region.

Georgian citizen Emzar Bagishvili, detained by Abkhazian special services on suspicion of espionage, has been arrested for two months, TASS reported, citing the Abkhazian Prosecutor's Office.

Bagishvili was detained in the village of Okumi in the Tkvarcheli district. The reason cited was intelligence, but the State Security Service (SGB) released no evidence of his involvement in espionage. In a published video, Bagishvili stated that two of his children live in Georgia and one in the United States, News Georgia reported.

Georgian central authorities have received information about the incident. Tbilisi has activated the incident prevention mechanism's hotline and is working to clarify the circumstances of the detention, the publication clarified.

Georgia considers Abkhazia and South Ossetia to be territories occupied by Russia after Russia intervened in the armed conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia on August 8, 2008, and subsequently recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, according to a "Caucasian Knot" report on the 2008 Five-Day War.

As a reminder, there have been periodic reports in Abkhazia of the detention of Georgian citizens and foreigners on suspicion of espionage. Thus, in October 2025, Shalva Khizanishvili, a resident of the Gali district, was arrested on charges of espionage, and his case was transferred to the region's Supreme Court. In January 2025, Kakha Muradov was sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of treason and illegal arms trafficking. And in 2023, Georgian citizen Kristina Takalandze received 10 years and 6 months in prison. At the end of January 2026, Briton Kuldip Singh was expelled from Abkhazia on suspicion of possible involvement in the activities of a foreign intelligence service.

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/421872