Bacho Akhalaia
| Bacho Akhalaia ბაჩო ახალაია |
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| Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia | |
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In office July 4, 2012 – September 20, 2012 |
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| Prime Minister | Vano Merabishvili |
| Preceded by | Vano Merabishvili |
| Succeeded by | Ekaterine Zguladze (acting) |
| Minister of Defense of Georgia | |
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In office August 27, 2009 – July 4, 2012 |
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| Prime Minister | Nika Gilauri |
| Preceded by | Vasil Sikharulidze |
| Succeeded by | Dimitri Shashkin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 24, 1980 Zugdidi |
Bachana "Bacho" Akhalaia (Georgian: ბაჩანა "ბაჩო" ახალაია; born October 24, 1980 in Zugdidi) is a Georgian politician who was Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia from July 4, 2012 to September 20, 2012. He had previously served as Head of Penitentiary Department of Ministry of Justice of Georgia (2005–2008) and Minister of Defense (August 27, 2009–July 4, 2012).
On September 20, 2012, amid protests against torture and rapes in Georgian prisons, the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced Akhalaia had resigned from office.
Akhalaia graduated from the Tbilisi State University with a degree in Law in 2003. From 2003 to 2004, he worked for the NGO Liberty Institute, known for his role in protests that led to the Rose Revolution in Georgia in November 2003. From 2004 to 2005, Akhalaia served as deputy Public Defender (Ombudsman) under his fellow Liberty Institute activist Sozar Subari. In 2005, Akhalaia was moved to the post of Head of Penitentiary Department of Ministry of Justice of Georgia. In this capacity he led a struggle against the established system of "thieves in law" which ruled prisons in the post-Soviet country, but he was a frequent target of criticism by the opposition, some human rights groups and Public Defender Subari. In particular, he was accused of heavy-handed crackdown on Georgia's largest prison riot in 2006, in which 7 inmates died.
Akhalaia has been seen as a close ally of Saakashvili and the influential Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili. His brother, Data Akhalaia, headed Department for Constitutional Security at the Interior Ministry and his father, Roland Akhalaia, was a chief prosecutor of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region in western Georgia and the current member of the Parliament of Georgia.
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