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Bacho Akhalaia

Bacho Akhalaia
ბაჩო ახალაია
Bacha Akhalaia (2011).jpg
Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia
In office
July 4, 2012 – September 20, 2012
Prime Minister Vano Merabishvili
Preceded by Vano Merabishvili
Succeeded by Ekaterine Zguladze (acting)
Minister of Defense of Georgia
In office
August 27, 2009 – July 4, 2012
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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