City Court Started Interrogation of the Accused Victims

On September 16, the city court renewed the trial of the students who were wounded in front of the technical university. The young people in pre-trial detention – Zaza Shavliashvili, Vasil Giguashvili, Nika Beruashvil, Roland Nikolozashvili and Saba Mghvdeladze – were initially found victims in the incident but later they were charged for the hooliganism by the prosecutor’s office.

On September 16, the witness of the defense side and one of the accused Saba Mghvdeladze were interrogated at the trial. On the same day, the Human Rights Center held press-conference in its office where the attorneys of the accused spoke about the violations in the case materials and grave health conditions of the prisoners.

The incident happened on October 13, 2009. Two groups of people had disagreement which turned into a serious quarrel. As a result, a young man wounded Zaza Shavliashvili, Vasil Giguashvili, Nika Beruashvili, Badri Mikatadze, Roland Nikolozashvili and Saba Mghvdeladze. Levan Abashidze was arrested for the accident who was convicted for the premeditated injury of the students and now is in prison.

Three months later, the victims were also arrested who were found guilty in hooliganism (see the article on the following link: http://www.humanrights.ge/index.php?a=article&id=5455&lang=en)

A friend of the detainees Ia Kobakhidze was interrogated at the trial on September 16. She personally witnessed the accident and confirmed that her friends did not start the quarrel. A group of young people attacked them: “We were in the restaurant. We wanted to celebrate first days of our studentship. When we left the restaurant we started talking at the bus stop. Strange people approached us and they started arguing with our friends. Zaza Shavliashvili, Vasil Giguashvili, Nika Beruashvili, Roland Nikolozashvili and Saba Mghvdeladze did not provoke the quarrel at all.”

The young boys were accused under article 239 part II – “a” of the Criminal Code of Georgia which envisages premeditated crime committed by the group which blatantly breaches the public order. The crime is punished by the imprisonment from 2 to 4 years. The defense side claims there was no preliminary agreement on the quarrel.

Ia Kobakhidze confirmed at the trial that the quarrel started spontaneously and it was not preliminary agreed. “Neither I nor my friends knew the people with whom they had quarrel. The strangers seemed to going to their own business and approached us only because they thought my friends said something wrong about them. I remember Saba Mghvdeladze was telling them he had not said anything wrong about them.”

The defense side wants to prove that the incident was not noisy enough to qualify it as “blatant violation of the public order” as it is stated in the bill of particulars. The attorneys petitioned to the court to investigate the scene of accident. They said it could provide the court with many interesting information; however, the judge did not satisfy their petition.

Accused Saba Mghvdeladze was also questioned at the trial. “I was standing on the pavement together with my friends and we were talking. A stranger turned me back and asked me loudly – what did you say about me – and grabbed my collar. I was explaining to him calmly that I had not said anything wrong about him. Nika Beruashvili approached us soon and asked the stranger to calm down. In reply the stranger slapped Nika and he fell into the bushes. I was also pushed down and I hit my head on the ground; as a result I lost conscious and I do not remember anything. I did not feel how I was stabbed because I was still unconscious,” said Saba Mghvdeladze.

Saba Nghvdeladze was wounded in the abdomen during the incident and now he has tuberculosis of the intestines. His health conditions are bad enough. “I was already ill by the time of my detention. I had serious pains in my abdomen. The jail doctors gave painkillers to me but it did not help. Then they guessed I needed operation and I was operated on,” recalled Saba Mghvdeladze at the trial.

The other accused will be interrogated at the next trial on September 22.