Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti
Tamaz Nadirashvili, 38 an invalid of the first category was sentenced by Gurjaani Court to five years in prison for searching for scrap-iron at a dump. Even when what would have appeared to have been an outrageous verdict, the decision of the Gurjaani District Court was not changed by the Tbilisi Court on appeal. Now a disabled prisoner from the Tbilisi Penitentiary Establishment # 5 is urging the Georgian President to pardon him. The convicted person has two children-fifteen-year-old daughters and six-year-old boy. Both of them suffer from an acute form of epilepsy. They and their mother are doing all what they can to get justice for the head of the family.
Tamaz Nadirashvili was collecting scrap iron to in order to collect enough money to buy medicines and food for his children. “We lived in the house we have inherited from our grandmother in the village of Gurjaani. We are very poor and consequently we want to be part of the Poverty Reduction Program. Already we are getting some help but 66 GEL is not enough to buy medicines, not even for one child. I worked hard to earn enough money to buy some bread for my family. In August of 2004, some drunken boys hit me over the head with an iron bar and I have suffered ever since. My skull was crushed and I have a lasting head injury. It is lucky that I even survived the brutal attack. I should not work at all but how else can I take care of my family. I could not stand to see my children suffering because I could not afford to buy medicine. Last spring my brother and I with our wives and children went to the valley at the end of the village to get some plant people use to dye Easter Eggs red.
While there we came upon trenches made by a backhoe. The locals told us that the scrap iron belonged to the Gurjaani Water Distribution Company and we should not take them away. We obeyed their request and went on cutting the plants. Several hours later the police officers arrived on the place and they took me to the police station. I was blamed for thievery at the police station; I was supposed to be imprisoned. I tried to explain to them that I had not taken the scrap iron anywhere and they were on the place again; anyway they charged me for the crime,” said Tamaz Nadriashvili.
The court satisfied the mediation of the investigator and Nadirashvili was let out of jail for 2 thousand GEL. “Neighbors loaned us money for six months; but if we could not pay the money within the estimated time for payback. As a result the area next to my house was transferred to them as a financial guarantee. Consequently, my wife and I worked everyday very hard. We sold our plots; my parents, who live in one room of the former factory, gave me some money as well and I was able to pay off the debt. After that our situation worsened. On April 19 2007 I visited my father to borrow five lari to buy some bread. My father was not at home; he was pasturing the herd. While looking for him I noticed scrap iron in the bushes; it was very heavy. I called my younger brother to help me. We broke them into pieces and took them to the enterprise where they accept scrap iron.
On our way to the enterprise police officers stopped us and inquired what we were transporting. Having seen the scrap iron they immediately took me to the police station. Later Mirian Kupreishvili, the director of the former Building Company, was made to file a complaint on me and they arrested me,” said Nadirashvili.
Mirian Kupreishvili wrote in his complaint that he had lost some equipment from the yard of his enterprise and urged the police to react on the fact. Kuprashvili valued the metal for 150 GEL. Based on the complaint the Prosecutor’s Office charged Tamaz Nadirashvili under the Georgian Criminal Code, Article 177. The bill of particulars, signed by Davit Andriashvili, Gurjaani District Prosecutor, states that Nadirashvili had damaged the victim organization with a loss of 150 GEL.
While court discussion Mirian Kupreishvili explained in his testimony to the judge he was not sure whether the items seized from Nadirahsivli actually belonged to his enterprise or not. “The metal does not have any number or some other sign that would help to easily recognize it,” said
Kuprashvili added in his statement that since 1995 the enterprise was subordinated to the Agency of Property Management and Privatization. Consequently, Aleksandre Tsikarishvili, an employee of the enterprise, was interrogated as a witness at the trial. He stated that the Company of Individual Construction was inserted on the privatization list and it remained as state owned property for now. Neither Tsikarishvili could claim that the discovered equipment belonged to the organization. It is noteworthy that the Prosecutor’s Office charged Tamaz Nadirashvili under the law on particular damage without estimating the total value of the stolen equipment though the expertise and not based on the technical ownership of the material.
Despite that judge Lia Otarashvili found Nadirashvili guilty and sentenced him to five years in prison. The prisoner stated that before passing the verdict he was offered several times to plead guilty after what the prosecutor’s Office could agree to a plea-bargain with him. However, Nadirashvili did not accept the offer. “The Prosecutor’s office demanded the payment of five thousand GEL. It was stipulated that only after the payment they would be in the position to change the conditions of the charge against me. It was told that I would only be given a suspended sentence and there would be no jail time. Neither I nor my relatives have ever seen such a large sum of money in all of our lives. Even if I had sold my house I could not come up with the amount of money. My house is already leaking and nobody would pay much for a shack with that has a bad roof. My wife provided Andriashvili, the prosecutor with the record of my illness and the certificate showing my level of poverty. However, the public official only called her a beggar and kicked her out of her office, saying that her room was not a Burial Bureau because my wife was crying,” said the prisoner.
With the support of lawyers Tamaz Nadirashvili appealed against the initial verdict at the Tbilisi Appeal Court and requested for justification, albeit to no avail. Judge Maia Tetrauli did not take exception to the initial verdict.
The prisoner, who has serious health problems based on the conclusion of the Tbilisi State Medical University Surgical Department, has since petitioned to the Georgian President to pardon him. However, he has not received a reply as yet. Also, the pardon commission has not discussed his petition as well.
After the father was imprisoned the health conditions of the children seriously took a turn to the worst. His wife and children now intend to start hunger striking in front of the Georgian parliament children as a last ditch attempt to get justice for the head of the family.
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