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Father of Killed Young Man Seeks Justice

October 31, 2014
 
Nino Akhobadze

On November 30, 2013, Giorgi Khvedelidze, 21, was killed in the yard of his own house in Khashuri. His father protests mitigation of the murderer’s imprisonment term with 2 years. City Court sentenced the convicted person to 10-year-imprisonment but the Appeal Court reduced it at two years; as a result the convict has to serve 8 years in prison.

Human Rights Center reported about the tragedy a year ago too (see http://humanrights.ge/index.php?a=main&pid=17569&lang=eng

“The Appeal Court took off two years from his imprisonment term for unclear reasons. How can they speak about moral and good characteristics from neighbors, when Nozadze came to my house and killed my son with knife. It is not my version; expertise and two witnesses confirmed it; they took the murderer and hid in Tbilisi. They admitted in their testimonies that my son did not have a knife with him. They say the life of 21-year-old boy is worth of only 8 year-imprisonment in this country,” the father, Aleksandre Khvedelidze said.

There are testimonies of several witnesses in the case materials; among them are Gelashvili and Tediashvili, who also confirm that the killed young man did not have a knife during the accident. However, according to the same witnesses, Giorgi Khvedelidze was extorting money from the convicted that is categorically denied by the father.

Gori district prosecutor’s office is in charge of investigation. As Aleksandre Khvedelidze said, he did his best to block the Gori district prosecutor’s office in the investigation because he did not trust them and requested to forward the case to the Tbilisi Court.

“I do not trust Gori prosecutor’s office; I live in Khashuri and know what is going on there. I met many people; I met Ucha Nanuashvili [Public Defender], Kakha Kozhoridze [Georgian Young Lawyers Association] and MP Zura Abashidze. However, my petition did not reach Minister of Justice Thea Tsulukiani. I wanted her to help me to forward the case to the Tbilisi City Court. Ucha Nanuashvili did everything to help me but apparently nobody listened to him. The only thing I achieved was meeting with the chief prosecutor Giorgi Badashvili. He promised to do everything to take the case from Gori; he kept his promise and now it is discussed by the Tbilisi Prosecutor’s Office. However, the Chief Prosecutor had promised me his office would study the case. I have nothing against prosecutors but they could do more. I do not request ultimate punishment; I request to estimate the truth!”

Aleksandre Khvedelidze insists that one person – convicted Nozadze, who was weaker than his son, could not kill Giorgi Khvedelidze; furthermore, he could not stab his son ten times. The father is sure several persons participated in the murder, who were holding Giorgi Khvedelidze when the murderer killed him.  Aleksandre Khvedelidze said this fact was not mentioned during investigation not to qualify the crime as organized murder.

“There is a pharmacy in the corner of my street, where the convict parked his car; two video-cameras are installed on the pharmacy façade. When the prosecutor’s office was investigating the case, I reminded them about cameras. Should I have reminded them of such important issues?! I requested Prosecutor Giorgi Badashvili to withdraw photos from the video. I demand those photos. Is not there a laboratory, or expertise bureau to determine how many people were sitting in the car? I do not request them to show the faces; I want to know number of people. I will show those photos to everybody to convince them that other people were also sitting in the car. I cannot believe that only one person killed my son; he could not kill a stout man, like my son was,” Aleksandre Khvedelidze said.

Head of Legal Aid Center at Human Rights Center Tamar Avaliani studied the case and said that motive of the Appeal Court to mitigate the punishment is unclear. “The convict was sentenced to ten-year imprisonment under Article 108 of the Criminal Code of Georgia for the premeditated murder of Giorgi Khvedelidze; however Tbilisi Appeal Court took off two years from the imprisonment term. I read the judgment of the Appeal Court and it is absolutely unverified. The judgment does not show the grounds of the investigator’s arguments, when he took off two years from the imprisonment term. Furthermore, the Appeal Court shared the factual circumstances and evidence, which proved that the convict really had a knife and went to kill Khvedelidze. Regardless the fact, the court decided to reduce the term with two years considering the age and reputation of the convict.”

Tamar Avaliani added that the court did not accept the testimony of the father, who is witness in the case, where he claimed that more than one person participated in the murder. The lawyer said if more than one person participated in the murder, the case was to be discussed under Article 109 – premeditated murder under aggravating circumstances and consequently the court could impose longer imprisonment on the convict.

“According to case materials, Giorgi Khvedelidze was strong person and it was less probable that one person killed him. The court absolutely ignores the video-recordings from the camera, though it is requested by the victim side. Neither court judgments mention them. Generally, status of victim, his/her power and competence is very symbolic in the criminal process. Victim is not a party and does not have access to case materials; consequently, the investigation does not provide victims with information about ongoing investigation into the criminal case.”

Aleksandre Khvedelidze said that he asked meeting with the chairperson of the Human Rights Committee at the Parliament Eka Beslia with the support of MP Zurab Abashidze but in vain. Now, the father addresses to Eka Beselia via humanrights.ge:

“Mr. Zurab Abashidze asked you meeting with Aleksandre Khvedelidze several times. Are not you interested what I wanted to tell you? You are chairperson of the Human Rights Committee, are not you? You usually speak very nicely about the cases of 22 000 persons whom you responded to applications. Why am not I among those 22 thousand persons, Ms Eka? Do not you remember what you did when your brother or son was arrested? But they killed my son. It is your justice,” Khvedelidze addressed to Eka Beselia. 

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