The President – A Commander Who Runs Away

The President – A Commander Who Runs Away

Mariam Sakvarelidze is demanding the investigation of a car accident and the murder of her son, which took place on the night of Rose Revolution, more than three years ago. The investigation is still being delayed. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has closed the case twice, without investigation. After meeting with Saakashvili three times, the mother of the deceased called the President a commander who runs away.

The incident took place on the 23rd of November, 2003. On the night of the Rose Revolution an Amoured Personnel Carrier (APC) accidentally hit a BMW travelling from Rustavi to Tbilisi, on Gorgasali Street. Two occupants of the BMW were killed in the accident; passenger Eter Tsuliashvili died on the spot and driver David Sakvarelidze died the next day. The children traveling in the BMW, Sophia and Badri Tsuliashvili, were also injured.

After the accident took place, an investigation was started with the identification number ‘276’. On November 26th, the case was sent to the Army Prosecutor. In 2004, on April 19th, the case was sent to the investigation board at the Ministry of Security. Now the case has the identification number ‘04990’.
Witnesses to the accident were questioned. The driver of the APC stated that he was not driving fast - only 40km/h. According to Mariam Sakvarelidze, the driver of their car (the BMW) was only going about 50km/h but they were hit by some kind of military vehicle at very high speed.

The same story was given by the children who were in the car.
Eight forensic experts investigated the scene of the accident to try to establish what really occurred. Three of the experts concluded that the accident occurred the way described by the BMW occupants, two experts said it could have happened either way and three of them could not give any exact answers.
In 2005 on April 28th, a lawyer from the Human Rights Centre, David Managadze, representing the crash victims, received notice that the investigation had been closed because there was not enough evidence. “Everything has been done regarding the case in question; the exact position could not be established due to different accounts given by both sides. That is not grounds for further investigation”, read Gogoberidze’s (the prosecutor in the case) conclusion.
The mother of one of the victims, Mariam Sakvarelidze, did not receive any information about the case other than what she obtained from the attorney. As the representatives of the victims also state, she won’t stop until the guilty are punished. “I know that the case has been closed because the court itself was under pressure, they have not even read the case. I have nothing else to say. Judge Tsitsvidze asked me which vehicle I was in - is it not obvious that I would not have been travelling in the APC? I won’t stop, I will appeal. They do not want to reveal the facts and open the case because they don’t want to admit that the Rose Revolution was a bloody one. If I can’t achieve justice I will take revenge.” 

The lawyer of Sakvarelidze has appealed to the Court several times, demanding fair decision. After several attempts, Sakvarelidze’s case was reinvestigated. However, Mariam Sakvarelidze says that law enforcers try to keep the case in the dark and that she will not allow them to do it.

Mariam Sakvarelidze: “The case has been returned to the same investigator as before. I went to Nukri Chelidze to talk with him, but he did not answer any of my questions, saying come and talk together with the lawyer. Nobody gives me an answer, why Chelidze is investigating the case again? If he wanted to investigate this case, he had eleven months for that. They want to hide this case from society, as the government does not want to soil victory of Rose Revolution with blood”.

Mariam Sakvarelidze has met the President three times, but without any significant results. As Sakvarelidze says, “the President runs away, he is a fainthearted and fearful commander. I met him during Tbilisoba the first time. He said he knew my case and that he was doing everything. The second time, I met Saakashvili at the opening ceremony of one of the sculptures. I gave a letter to his wife. His guard locked me in some room and only allowed me to go when the ceremony was finished. I went to his place for the third time; however, nobody let me in, of course. So I screamed: I am a poor mother, demanding justice. And received following answer for him: “This is a house where people live” and drove off. After that I call him a commander who runs away.”

David Managadze, the lawyer, will demand from the Court that they change the investigator. “It is not clear, why the Prosecutor’s Office gave the case to same investigator, who has done nothing. We need notice from the police, that the case is being investigated by Chelidze, but nobody is giving it to us”.
The General Prosecutor’s Office does not make any comments. The investigator Nukri Chelidze avoids talking with us about this case.

Eka Gulua