Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti
The Gurjaani District Prosecutor’s office has finished its investigation into the case of Zurab Tabagari - former director of the public school in Balghojiani Village, Kvareli District. The prosecutor’s office accused Tabagari under Article 139 (forcible sexual intercourse with juvenile) and Article 332 (abuse of power) of the Criminal Code of Georgia.
According to our information, Zurab Tabagari pleaded guilty to the abuse of power that deals with the financial violations in the school. However, he categorically denies having sexual relations with the female student. Zurab Tabagari is now in pretrial detention.
The prosecutor’s office has already sent the case to the Kvareli District Court. According to the Court, the trial has not yet been scheduled and they do not plan on case discussion till the end of January.
Zurab Tabagari was detained by law enforcement officers in September of 2010. In June of 2010 he was sued by the teachers and accused of a having sexual relations with a female student. On June 9, the morning news program run by the television company “Imedi” released a telecast in which the teachers publicly accused the former director of the attempted rape of a pupil.
Nino Modebadze, a complaining teacher said: “The child told me about it at school. When I heard it, I was astonished and informed the class-mentor immediately. She met with the mother of the female student who decided to keep the incident private; the mother was going to Tbilisi and promised to resolve the problem after she returned.
-But you did not share the mother’s position and informed the police about it.
-I did not call the police; Eldino Iobashvili called police on Monday after lessons; she did not want the mother to take the girl away and help the director to escape punishment.
-Did you have any problems with the director before that?
-Yes, I did. Once, he gave poor marks to a pupil in my absence and we had an argument about it.
-Why did you invite that female student, her classmate, and the mentor to your house on Saturday?
-We talked with the girl once more to clear up some details. The girl repeated that the director was patting her on the breast, was striping her trousers and patting her.
-Why did you brother-in-law Akaki Kekenadze attend this meeting?
-It is not strange at all. He was the deputy of the village on the municipal board. He is a lawyer and provided us with consultations.
-Did you write a complaint about the school director?
-Eldino wrote and I copied it out.
-Did the girl also sign the letter?
-Yes, she did. The teachers also signed it: myself, Maia Tsertsvadze, Liana Kupatadze and Eldino Iobashvili. It confirmed that everything written in the complaint was told by the girl.
Akaki Kekenadze was member of the previous municipal board of Kvareli District. He was a candidate of the United National Movement in the municipal elections on May 30, 2010 from the village of Balghojiani. Maia Tsertsvadze was member of the precinct election commission from the National Movement in the village; Nino Modebadze is a sister-in-law of Kekenadze and was one of his campaigners in the village during the pre-election. Liana Kupatadze was a campaigner for the National Movement in the village. Kekenadze lost the elections. The opposition party’s candidate, Kakhi Kapanadze, won the elections in Balghojiani; he represented the National Council in the elections.
The teachers blame the school director for the victory of the opposition candidate in the elections. Before detention, Zurab Tabagari told us that the members of the National Movement (the ruling party) met him before the elections and asked him to visit every family in the village and request them to vote for their candidate. Tabagari refused.
Also, the location of the female student is not yet known.
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