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Judge Kochlamazashvili Obeys the Prosecutor’s Office

September 29, 2010
Salome Achba

The court hearing on the “accused victims” finished at the Tbilisi City Court. On September 28, Judge Badri Kochlamaszashvili passed inadequately strict and inhuman judgment on the accused. He imposed imprisonment of 3 years and 6 months and fine of 3 000 GEL on the students who were wounded in front of the Technical University a year ago. Just to compare: for the murderer of Buta Robakidze the police officer was sentenced to 4-year-imprisonment and the murderers of Girgvliani did not even spend the 4 years in prison.

The charge over Badri Mikatadze was burdened because he is sought. The judge sentenced him to 4-year-imprisonment and fined with 3 500 GEL. The father of Mikatadze stated at the trial that his son was badly wounded and his placement in the detention setting would have resulted into his death.

Roland Nikolozashvili was dismissed from the court-room because he had pleaded guilty after the prosecutor’s office and the attorney made a deal – 3-year of suspended sentence and fine of 2 000 GEL was imposed on him.

The parents of the accused state Nikolozashvili pleaded guilty under influence of their family attorney Nana Pridonashvili. The latter made a secret deal with the prosecutor’s office – her client would be released from imprisonment if he had pleaded guilty. Thus, Nikolozashvili’s testimony aimed to avoid the imprisonment and not to estimate the truth.

The other four accused – Zaza Shavliashvili, Vasil Giguashvili, Nika Beruashvili and Saba Mghvdeladze  - were sent to prison for 3 years and 6 months and have to pay the fine of 3 000 GEL each.

The Judge Badri Kochlamazashvili stressed out several times that hooliganism is not a serious crime. He also spoke about the palliative circumstances about the accused. More precisely, he stated that they are students and cannot attend the lectures; they were wounded during the incident and their health conditions worsened in the detention setting; these people are characterized positively and they did not hide from the investigation. Thus, so many palliative circumstances did not reflect in the judgment at all except the 6 months and 500 GEL he took off from the 4 years  and 3 500 GEL the prosecutor had requested for the accused.

In fact, the students, wounded during the incident in front of the Technical University, were found guilty in the same crime and will spend as much time in prison as the convicted for the murder of Girgvliani.

The young people were detained in January of 2010 for the incident which occurred three months before – the students of the Technical University were wounded as a result of the quarrel. The wounded students are: Zaza Shavliashvili, Vasil Giguashvili, Nika Beruashvili, Saba Mghvdeladze, Badri Mikatadze and Roland Nikolozashvili. The investigation found them guilty and sentenced certain Levan Abashidze to 13-year-imprisonment for their wounding. Three months later, the prosecutor’s office suddenly changed the position and detained the wounded students for hooliganism.

Before the judgment was announced, the accused made a final statement at the trial and requested the judge to pass impartial and fair judgment.

“Your honor, please pass fair judgment. We are victims in this case and not criminals. We did not start the quarrel. Please, take into consideration that we were the students of the Technical University; that we are wounded and our health conditions are serious. Please, do not destroy our lives and allow us to continue our life normally,” the accused Saba Mghvdeladze appealed to the judge. The prosecutor has “crocodile tears” on her eyes hearing the statement of the accused.

Before announcing the judgment, the Judge Badri Kochlamazashvili made a speech about the justice and impartiality and suggested the accused to plead guilty in the crime which they had not committed. “The Criminal Code of Georgia allows the court to impose suspended sentence on the accused if they plead guilty in the minor crime. This is the case when the court is entitled to enjoy this right. The crime you are accused in is a minor crime. Similar behavior is not unexpected from the young people like you. If you had pleaded guilty, the court could have envisaged your studentship, lack of criminal record, being wounded and poor health and could pass less strict judgment on you. You will probably appeal to the Appeal Court and I would kindly suggest you do not focus only on the positions of your attorneys and you’d rather plead guilty in the crime.”

The attorneys will definitely appeal to the Appeal Court. The Human Rights Center will inform the diplomatic corps accredited in Georgia and the international organizations about the court decision. The Center will give a press-conference in its office at 2: 00 pm on Wednesday, October 4, 2010.

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