Law Enforcement Officers Stopped Search for the Killed Giorgi Lekiashvili in Signagi

 

Lela Khechoshvili, Kakheti

Signagi district population holds protest demonstration and requests law enforcement bodies to renew search of Giorgi Lekiashvili’s body. 

40-year old man from Signagi district was sentenced to 8-year-imprisonment for the murder of Giorgi Lekiashvili, 24, from Signagi. The convict confessed the crime though law enforcement officers have not found the body yet.

The accused person was convicted under the Article 19-108 of the Criminal Code of Georgia (premeditated murder). Defense side appealed the first judgment at the Tbilisi Appeal Court.

Giorgi Lekiashvili’s mother protests the court judgment. “They sentence people to ten-year imprisonment for a thievery of a small thing; but they killed my hardworking and honest son and the murdered is sentenced to 8-year-imprisonment only,” Maya Jokharidze said.

The relatives of the killed person speak about different versions of murder. According to the first version, Lekiashvili was killed as a result of money-extortion; second version claims that the accused person was defending himself during the incident. “On January 15, accused person invited Giorgi Lekiashvili to his family where they had an argument; the convicted person disarmed Lekiashvili to defend himself and during this quarrel Giorgi accidentally was wounded to death,” Zaza Jokharidze, uncle of Lekiashvili, told Human Rights Center.

Jokharidze said the convict threw Lekiashvili’s body in the Alazani River with the support of his relative. 

Law enforcement officers were looking for Giorgi Lekiashvili’s body in Alazani River but in vain. Zaza Jokharidze said after the court judgment, police officers from Signagi stopped search for Lekiashvili’s body.

Signagi district population held two protest demonstrations and requested law enforcement bodies to renew the search process.