Witness Taxi-Driver Detained for Controversial Testimonies

Lela Khechoshvili, Kakheti 

Taxi-driver Aleksandre Getiashvili was arrested for controversial testimonies. Gurjaani district police of MIA arrested his passenger Vazha Utiashvili too. 

On November 15, Vazha Utiashvili was traveling from Gurjaani to Tbilisi together with three passengers. Gurjaani police officers stopped the car on the Kachreti motorway and requested Utiashvili to get off the car. They searched him and Aleksandre Getiashvili’s car. Police officers reported that they had stopped the car based on operative information according to which Utiashvili had narcotic substances with him.

Police officers arrested Vazha Utiashvili and took the rest passengers to the Kachreti district police office as witnesses; the detainee was searched in the police office. Witnesses signed testimonies and left police. Vazha Utiashvili remained in detention. According to his claiming, police officers showed him a wrapped up narcotics after the search, as if it was found in his pocket. Vazha Utiashvili blames police officers in physical violence and planting of narcotic substances on him.

Gurjaani district court sentenced the detainee to pre-trial imprisonment.

Several days after the incident, Gurjaani district police officers detained the driver of the car by which Vazha Utiashvili was traveling to Tbilisi. Lawyer Maguli Gvaladze, who defends rights of Aleksandre Getiashvili, told Human Rights Center that Getiashvili is accused under Article 371′ of the Criminal Code of Georgia – making essentially controversial testimonies by witness or plaintiff; premeditated hinder of judiciary process by making controversial testimonies either by witness or plaintiff that is punished by fine or imprisonment from one month to three years.

“Getiashvili does not plead guilty and claims he has not changed the testimony. Investigation was launched in this fact. I cannot tell you more until we interrogate him and collect evidence,” the lawyer Maguli Gvaladze said.

The driver’s wife Lia Getiashvili said police officers compel Aleksandre Getiashvili to change his testimony. They demand him to say that Vazha Utiashvili struck police officer and tore his uniform.

“My husband says Utiashvili did not strike the police officer and did not tear his uniform; so he cannot lie. He says he does not even know the boy and how he could make his punishment graver based on his false statement. My husband was transporting passengers. Patrol police stopped his taxi, detained and searched one of the passengers but he did not have anything on him. They took the passenger to police detention setting. The driver and other passengers were taken as witnesses. When they questioned my husband, they showed him preliminarily prepared text and demanded him to sign it. My husband told them he could not read the handwritten text and they gave printed version. Having read that, the investigator gave him another paper and said the same text was there too and asked to sign it. So, he confused him and made to sign the testimony falsely. I do not know whether police officers planted any narcotics on the detainee in the detention setting but based on the faked testimony which my husband signed his charge was made graver,” Lia Getiashvili said and added that as soon as they learned the testimony was falsified, they addressed to the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia.

“As soon as I learned about falsification of the testimony, I immediately went to the chief prosecutor’s office and filed an application. Two weeks later I received a reply stating that the Chief Prosecutor’s Office had studied our application and the case was forwarded to the Gurjaani district prosecutor for further reaction. Afterwards, the prosecutor called my husband and demanded him to write initial testimony. My husband was summoned three times and each time he was under suppression in the prosecutor’s office and in police office. They demanded him to say that Utiashvili struck police officer Rezo Kadagishvili and tore his uniform. My husband said he would never do it and blame the boy in uncommitted crime. The prosecutor demanded to arrest my husband to make a good example for others not to change testimonies in future,” Lia Getiashvili said.

Pre-trial session into Aleksandre Getiashvili’s case will be held on February 5.