Gia Gvichiani Claims He Is Innocent

Khatuna Gagnidze, Interpresnews

Gia Gvichiani, convicted for the murder of Nika Lominadze, commercial expert and financial manager of AES Telasi, spoke about scandalous details before and after his detention; he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

How is his case connected with the detention of former chairman of the Chamber of Control of Georgia Sulkhan Molashvili? What did law enforcement bodies request him against former defense minister Irakli Okrouashvili and who planned Gvichiani’s first and second detentions? IPN’s correspondent and member of prisons’ public monitoring group asked these questions to Gvichiani in Prison # 6. 

Gvichiani said initially he was arrested in 2003, after Lominadze’s assassination, under the charge of causing damage to Telasi Company (Tbilisi Electricity Distribution Company); Avtandil Jorbenadze, who was close to energy-mafia, planned his detention.

“I worked at Telasi for 8 years; I fought against Georgian energy-mafia during five years. I am not going to name mafia members now because I plan to sue them at the court after I leave prison.

At that period, Telasi had American administration and I was the only Georgian who could meet this mafia. Of course, that time governmental officials and people in close relation with the government, who still control Georgian energetic resources, were members of the mafia.

When Americans decided to leave, I had bothered mafia members several times. Namely, it was their fault that there was lack of electricity supply in Georgia while our electricity was sold in Turkey. I personally witnessed them negotiating with Turkish side in Ankara. A foreign manager of Telasi Company also witnessed this fact together with me. So, it became reason of my first detention in 2003 which lasted 3 days. They accused me of causing a damage of 2.5 million lari to Telasi. 

Different TV-Channels prepared TV-Stories alleging I might have had relation with Lominadze. They often asked me – can Lominadze’s case be resolved by my detention? Prosecutor’s Office might have suggested it. Entire Georgia had seen those scenes including Nodar Gvichiani, who was not my relative at all, we just had one surname. They made him do plenty of horrible things. American owners of Telasi appealed to the court and proved that I had not caused any damage to them; so the court released me.

Prosecutor’s Office appealed the judgment at the Appeal Court. The Court scheduled the trial on July 19, 2003. On July 17 that time state minister Avtandil Jorbenadze held government’s session and discussed one issue – my second detention. So, I believe Jorbenadze organized my detention. One member of the government told me that Jorbenadze personally ordered general prosecutor and Minister of Interior that my detention had huge importance for the country and they had to call judges and repeatedly arrest me. Avtandil Jorbenadze was in close relation with energy-mafia. I believe he was executing their orders; otherwise have you ever heard the government holding session to discuss detention of an ordinary clerk of a company?!” asked Gvichiani.

IPN asked what the connection between Sulkhan Molashvili’s detention with Gvichiani’s case was and Gvichiani answered:

“During my first detention prosecutor’s office took entire financial documentation from Telasi. At that time Telasi cooperated with 300 private companies. All of them were summoned to prosecutor’s office and financial police studied their accountancies. Sulkhan Molashvili’s detention is connected with it too. One of the inspected companies was wholesale market and Financial Police arrested its deputy director Natroshvili because of found violations. Chamber of Control had previously inspected this market. They went and arrested Sulkhan Molashvili, his deputy and several other employees. The main point is that prosecutor’s office started investigation into Nika Lominadze’s murder and then got interested in completely different cases,” Gvichiani said.

Three days later, as Gvichiani said, he was released but members of the “energy-mafia” still tried to arrest him. 

In 2006, as the convicted said, his second detention was planned by that-time government – former minister of energy Nika Gilauri, current Tbilisi mayor Gigi Ugulava and former minister of interior Vano Merabishvili together with the head of Special Operative Department of the MIA Erekle Kodua.

“In 2006, Nodar Gvichiani was arrested. He faked a story as if he was mediator in the murder which I had ordered  him and blamed three of his acquaintances– Nika Chemia, Avtandil Kherkeladze and Gia Papachashvili in Lominadze’s murder. He also blamed them in the murder of a Turkish citizen. He used nasty form of plea-agreement and escaped punishment for drug-trafficking. DNA test was conducted at the scene of Lominadze’s murder – they took finger prints, hairs and two cig-ends. One of them was smoked by Lominadze and the second by unidentified person. All these materials for the DNA test were sent to the USA in the laboratory of Federal Bureau and they are still there. At the first stage the investigation arrested three so-called executors of murder, took their DNA tests and sent them to the USA on January 6, 2006 to compare with the old ones. If the results were positive, Nodar Gvichiani was right and I was to be arrested; but on January 28, Sandro Girgvliani was killed. Government decided to incorrectly resolve his case and arrested only executors. However, the crime committed by murder clients – including the wife of the Minister of Interior, was hushed away. So the government decided not to wait for the DNA test results from the USA and started torture of 3 detainees on February 13. Three days later two of them confessed murder of Turkish citizen but they did not know anything about Lominadze’s murder. Their torture lasted one month. As they told me riot police officers were beating them every night. On March 6 Girgvliani’s murderers were arrested but not those who ordered his murder. On the same day between 6:00 and 7:00 pm Gigi Ugulava called me; I had business relation with him. He said I had to issue permit on certain Chikhladze at 11:00 am. He said it was Merabishvili’s man and had some problems with electricity meters. He asked me to receive him. On that day I definitely know that Kodua spent 6 hours in the working room of Merabishvili. After 7:00 pm I switched off cell phone because one of my colleagues had a birthday and I did not want to go to his party. I switched on the phone at 11:30 pm and saw two missed calls from Nika Gilauri. I called him back and asked what he needed. He asked me to come to his office in the evening instead morning as we had previously agreed; so he knew about my detention. On March 7, at 11:00 am I was arrested in my working room in presence of TV-cameras and they diverted public attention from Girgvliani’s murder to my arrest,” Gia Gvichiani said.

What happened after second detention? Gviachiani said he received different proposals in exchange of freedom but he did not accept any of them. One of their proposals was to blame Irakli Orkuashvili in ordering the murder.

“Prosecutor’s office started real investigation. Supposedly, three weeks after my detention negative results of DNA test arrived. Simultaneously investigation concluded that murderer Nika Chemia had alibi to prove his innocence and investigation realized that Nodar Gvichiani had mislead them. So, they decided to release me and arrest investigator who had heart attack having heard it and was placed in hospital. Three weeks later they understood that I was innocent and offered me to be a mediator and blame Telasi’s American representative Ignasio Iribaren as murder client and promised me to release under plea-agreement in exchange. I thought of their proposal but finally I refused so Tbilisi City Court sentenced me to life imprisonment. Then I appealed the verdict at the Appeal Court; meanwhile one of my lawyers Dimitry Khachidze met me in prison and said he was holding some seminars in the prosecutor’s office, had met deputy general prosecutor and head of investigation division Giorgi Latsabidze (later he was deputy chairman of the Chamber of Parliament but I do not know where he works now) who told him to suggest me to blame defense minister Irakli Okruashvili in ordering the murder. One month later Okruashvili resigned. If I had accepted their proposal they promised me to release under plea-agreement but I refused Khachidze to do it. It happened in September of 2006. Why Okruashvili? Because he was Telasi’s lawyer one year before Lominadze’s assassination,” Gvichiani said.

As for energo-mafia, as Gvichiani said its members run large businesses who had perfect relation with MIkheil Saakashvili. “I believe motive of my detention was to cover Girgvliani’s case. I cannot explain this fact otherwise. If it had not happened, they would not have arrested me,” said Gvichiani. He spoke about intimidation in prison too. Initially he was placed in the isolation cell where Nodar Gvichiani’s brother Nugzar Gvichiani had hung himself. He could not use hygiene items. “They wanted me to look like a criminal,” then they put him in the cell of murderers; after a long struggle he managed to move to a separate cell and he has been there for three years out of total 7 years he has spent in prison.