On February 10, 2017, priest Giorgi Mamaladze was arrested at Tbilisi International Airport on charges of preparing a murder. The Prosecutor’s Office stated that the investigation had uncovered a plan to murder a member of the Patriarch’s inner circle. The key witness, journalist Irakli Mamaladze, claimed that the priest had asked him to help obtain cyanide. According to information obtained by Rustavi 2 TV, Mamaladze allegedly intended to kill the Patriarch’s secretary-referent in order to advance his position within the church.

On September 5, 2017, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced him to nine years in prison. The Court of Appeals upheld the verdict on February 13, 2018, and on August 1, the Supreme Court refused to review the case.

While in prison, Mamaladze was denied Holy Communion by the Patriarchate, prompting his family and supporters to hold a protest outside the Patriarchate on February 4, 2019, demanding his release and the right to receive Communion. They set up tents, but the Patriarchate denounced the demonstration as pressure.

On February 16, Father Nikoloz, the priest of St. Nicholas Church in Batumi, told journalists that Mamaladze had finally received Communion.

Later, on February 22, Mamaladze’s lawyer Mikheil Ramishvili announced that he had been transferred to the prison hospital. On March 20, Public Defender Nino Lomjaria stated that he was not receiving adequate medical care.

His brother, Tornike Mamaladze, also held a protest outside the President’s Administration, calling for a pardon, and on September 19, 2019, he set up a tent outside Parliament.

On December 31, 2019, just before midnight, Tbilisi City Hall’s cleaning service dismantled the tents around Parliament. A few activists tried but failed to stop the cleanup. Soon afterward, the City Hall installed Christmas attractions on the site, which were later removed in January when the area was fenced off for renovation. The work finished in August 2020.

On January 6, 2020, President Salome Zurabishvili, while announcing her Christmas pardons, explained why Mamaladze was not included:

“I could not find a justification—especially after tightening the pardon criteria—for why an exception should be made in Father Giorgi Mamaladze’s case.”

Following this refusal, Mamaladze went on a hunger strike, which he ended on January 8 at the Public Defender’s request.

On November 3, 2022, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Giorgi Mamaladze’s presumption of innocence had been violated (Article 6§2 of the Convention) and ordered the Georgian state to pay €9,418 in compensation.

After seven years in prison, Giorgi Mamaladze was released on February 14, 2024, following a decision by the Parole Commission.