Detective of the Tbilisi Police Department of the MIA was arrested in the courtroom

On June 19, 2020 the Tbilisi City Court sentenced A.I, detective of the Tbilisi Police Department of the MIA, to pre-trial imprisonment and suspended his official authority. The Tbilisi prosecutor’s office investigates the criminal case against A.I.

On July 8, 2018, on the Dadiani Avenue in Tbilisi, A.I crashed K.M and E.M when driving his car and then disappeared from the site. 20-years-old K.M died in hospital. A.I appeared in the police office only two days later.

A.I was not held responsible for the accident during two years and continued his work as a detective in the Tbilisi police department of the MIA. Meanwhile, he was even promoted. 

The Tbilisi prosecutor’s office clarified that the investigation was dragged out because of the delayed commission expertise of the Levan Samkharauli National Forensic Expertise Bureau, which started on July 24, 2018 and took almost two years to deliver the conclusion. 

Although Human Rights Center, who defended the legal interests of the family of the deceased person, petitioned the MIA and the General Inspection of the MIA, they did not examine the A.I’s case. The MIA answered that they would make decision over the case after the Tbilisi prosecutor’s office makes the final decision. However, the respective bodies did not react to the fact that A.I disappeared from the site of accident and did not execute his public and professional duties in front of the injured citizens. 

HRC believes, one of the main reasons of the dragged out investigation was the unreasonably delayed expertise process by the Levan Samkharauli National Forensic Expertise Bureau. Experience of the organization in connection with other cases shows that it is a common practice of the Levan Samkharauli Bureau to prolong the expertise, which finally results into a dragged out investigation. 

Human Rights Center calls on the Government of Georgia to take respective measures to ensure effective work of the Levan Samkharauli National Forensic Expertise Bureau.

Although the problem of the ineffective work of the National Forensic Expertise Bureau is evident, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is responsible for not taking adequate measures against the perpetrator, who continued to be an active officer in the police department. 

Human Rights Center