Giorgi Shervashidze: “Lack of Investigation Shows Government’s Involvement”

Eka Kevanishvili, Tbilisi

“They were mostly kicking m and it does appear that they were evidently professionals in what they did to me.  They were silent and did not insult me at all. I asked them what they were doing but then I passed out.. When I recovered, the attackers were looking down at me and then continued beating of me for the next thirty seconds. My wife was watching situation from a balcony; neighbors looked out when they heard  her crying and soon the attackers left the yard,” recalled Giorgi Shervashidze, former commander of Georgian Internal Forces and currently a member of the political bloc “Democrats” -  the incident happened on June 19.

Giorgi still has not recovered from such a serve beating. He has bruises on his back and suffered from a brain concussion; his hand is broken, and that does not include the psychological trauma. On June 19 at 8:00 PM four strangers ruthlessly beat Shervashidze at the entrance of his house.

“It was still light when I came home and I was going to park my car and opened the door of the garage when they attacked me. I could not understand how I fell down and saw three or four men standing over me. I have a dog on my balcony and he started barking at the sight.  My wife understood that something was wrong and started screaming. In fact I could not see anything properly because I had fainted.  However, my wife remembers seeing three men were beating me and one was chocking me. They might have blocked my artery and this cut blood to my brain.  It is strange that there was nobody in the yard at the time. I was unconscious for twenty-five minutes before the ambulance arrived. It does appear they were beating me for only a short time; otherwise I could have had worse injuries. The criminals were wearing black uniform, booths and one of them did not have a mask on. They truncheons had in their hands and they were also armed.  They mainly beat me by working me over with their feet. I just asked them what they were doing but I fell down and passed out.  Having soon recovered I noticed they were standing and looking down at me. They then continued beating me for 30-40 seconds. It was long enough as to where you cannot resist, especially when four men are beating you at the same time,” said Giorgi Shervashidze.

His wife and neighbors saw that the attackers were taller than Shervashidze (he is 1, 9 meters tall). The attackers were doing everything in silence; they did not say any insulting word; they did not seem to be aggressive either. According to the neighbors’ story when they finished their “work” they hurriedly left the yard, sat in a silver car in Tashkenti Street and drove off.

Having left the intensive-therapy department Giorgi Shervashidze was interrogated by law enforcers. However, they did not say their names and have not appeared since that day. Shervashidze supposes that law enforcers just carried out their responsibility because the interrogation was very formal.

The main question that bothers him and his family members is who wanted to beat Shervashidze and why. The incident happened after he joined political bloc of “Democrats” and he placed in charge of Abkhazian issues.

“I have participated in the fight against criminals because internal forces were subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs but then I served as a commander for eight years but I have not participated in such affair that could have harmed anybody. Even during the tense situation in Pankisi Alley I traveled there without body guards. (The district mostly inhabited with Chechen refugees where many kidnapped people are said to have been taken and abused; so for some time the situation was seriously tense there)

My friends and I suppose that the incident is mostly connected with my current political activities as I do not have any personal enemies. My main activities in the political bloc deal with Abkhazia; I have close relationships with Abkhaz people for recent three years. Maybe, I have interfered in Abkhazian problems too much and the authorities have not liked it. 

Our main direction is to find a common opinion with these people. For example, we decided to take an icon to Abkhazia. In 1992 so-called druids swore Georgia and we wanted to conduct a very important ritual to discharge our country from being cursed.

The main point that can be made in terms of unresolved issues in Abkhazia is that only the government has the capacity to result such problems. Giorgi Shervashidze continued to explain that not a positive sign when political and public figures are pressured by the use of force. This is becoming a common occurrence and has recently taken on a frequent character. Moreover, he added that if the investigation is dropped than his opinion of the motivation will that much more valid. Shervashidze seriously doubts that the government will find anyone who is responsible for his beating.