Horrific Car Accident - Killers Unpunished and Questions Unanswered

Horrific Car Accident - Killers Unpunished and Questions Unanswered

On March 25th 2001 at 12 o’clock, a ‘Niva’ car being driven in Gurjaani, in the Kotekhi District, crashed into three pedestrians. Ilia Nadashvili (22) and Gocha Makharashvili (35) were killed at the scene of the crash. Revaz Kitoshvili was taken to the regional hospital with severe injuries.

A criminal case under Article 276 (clause 7) was started. The investigation stopped and restarted several times due to a lack of information about the culprits, who still remain unidentified. The families of those who were killed claim that the investigation was not objective from start. They believe this is because high ranking officials from the Gurjaani Police Department, such as Lekso Giligashvili, the Head of the Police Department and Otar Ruadze, the Deputy Head of the Traffic Police, were in the Niva which killed the two people.

“We were told about the accident late; my son was killed at the scene. Gocha Makharashvili could have been saved if he was helped in time. However, nobody appeared for 4 hours. Rezo Kitoshvili fortunately survived, though he claims not to remember anything because he feels threatened. The accident took place near Otar Ruadze’s house.  Ruadze was then the Deputy Head of the Traffic Police. His son, Gogita Ruadze, was the first person to hear the commotion and come to the scene of the accident. He stated that he saw a BMW 525 driving away at high speed”, says Geronti Nadashvili, the father of Ilia Nadashvili. He is sure that the ‘BMW’ was only included in the case in order to confuse the investigation. The victims state that Otar Ruadze and Lekso Giligashvili are both guilty participants in the accident. Their beliefs are supported by the testimony of expert Maia Nikoleishvili.

“The expert, Maia Nikolaishvili, discovered white paint fragments from a Niva vehicle (of soviet production) on Ilia Nadashvili’s clothes. This was also confirmed by Gioshvili - the investigator. Gioshvili said he checked nearly every Niva in the region, including two Nivas owned by Otar Ruadze. He was unable however to check a third Niva owned by Ruadze. Ruadze told Gioshvili that he sold the third Niva in 2000, although Gioshvili had seen Ruadze sitting in that very car several days before the accident happened. If Ruadze was telling the truth, why he was sitting in a car, which he had already sold, in the police yard in 2001? After a few days, Lekso Giligashvili promoted Ruadze and appointed him as Head of the Vehicle Registration Department. Ruadze had the car repaired and repainted in Tbilisi, he also managed to get documents stating that the Niva was painted in the factory, where it was produced. Then, he sold the car in Gadrdabani”, says Nanuli Makharashvili, Gocha Makharashvili’s sister.

The families of the victims also supplied us with the testimony of a witness, who refused to name themselves for their own safety. “I was at the gas station, when I saw a white vehicle, a Niva, driving wildly. The wind shield and bumper of the car were broken. Later, I carried on my way and a few miles away I noticed two people on the road. I immediately informed the police about the accident”, said the witness.

Despite all the appeals of the victims to the General and District Prosecutors’ Offices, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Chairperson of the Parliament and the President of Georgia, the accident has still not been investigated.

According to the victims’ relatives, the investigator on the case, Gogi Pasikashvili, was under the control of Otar Ruadze during the interrogation of the witnesses. In a telephone interview Gogi Pasikashvili denied the accusations against him: “The accident was investigated by other investigators as well. Even the Head of the Investigation Service at the District Police Department within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Malvidze, worked on the case.”
 
Journalist: “Have you questioned Lekso Giligashvili and Otar Ruadze? What did you manage to find out?”

Pasikashvili: “I have questioned Otar Ruadze but not Lekso Giligashvili. It is true that there is an expert testimony stating that the pedestrians were crashed into by a white Niva; however, we could not identify the vehicle or the person driving it. The family of Ruadze denied that Otar Ruadze was driving the Niva at the time of the accident. They state that he was in Tbilisi at that time and that all the accusations are brazen lies”.

Gogita Ruadze and Revaz Kitoshvili refuse themselves to give any comments about the case. It was also impossible to contact Lekso Giligashvili.

“If we are mistaken, why then did Ruadze and Giligashvili immediately gather all the broken pieces of glass from the car, that later disappeared all together? Why did they participate in the investigation? Why did Otar Ruadze sell the Niva? Who forged a letter from Eduard Shevardnadze, as if he had taken the case under his private supervision and ordered Kakha Targamadze, who was then the Minister of Internal Affairs, to investigate the case? Why was it impossible to find a copy of the letter in the post office? And why has the investigation of the accident been suspended?” ask the victims’ families. “All this has happened simply because the accident was caused by high ranking officials who then managed to force the investigators to keep silent…”

Gela Mtivlishvili from Kakheti