Georgia arrests ex-Lentekhi mayor, city officials for misuse of power

In Georgia, former mayor of Lentekhi, Gia Oniani, and several senior city administration officials have been arrested on charges of abuse of office, the Regional Prosecutor’s Office of Western Georgia announced.

Oniani purchased a plot of land for hotel construction and commissioned a project that did not comply with existing building codes and regulations, Caliber.Az reports via Georgian media.

The illegal construction permit was issued by the head of the city’s architecture department, Nugzar Tvildiani, while construction oversight was managed by the head of the supervision service, Giorgi Gulbani, who is also Oniani’s sister’s husband.

The prosecutor’s office noted that officials ignored the presence of a cultural heritage monument on the site, the project exceeding the permitted land boundaries, and the encroachment on both state and private land.

By Jeyhun Aghazada