Accused for Having Stolen a Audio-Cassette Faces Seven-Year-Imprisonment

Nika Fifia, a resident of the Tsalenjikha District. was imprisoned for having stolen a cassette which costs three lari. Khvicha Khevsuriani, the lawyer for the accused, said that the accusation is groundless and demands to release the detainee immediately.

Fifia is charged under the Georgian Criminal Codde, Article 19,177, Section III “a”. According to the preliminary investigation, on June 10 2007 drunk Nika Fifia and T. Tsikolia attempted to steal a tape-recorder from the car of the head of the Fire Fighting Service (FFS}. Mimoza Gakhokidze, who lives in the building of the FFS, noticed the boys were stealing the recorder. Later, policemen arrested them. As a result of the search, they found a cassette on Temur Tsikolia.

The lawyer said that the accusation against Fifia is groundless. Procedural norms are violated during the investigation and the case is established on the assumptions of the prosecutor.

“Fifia has serious health problems and several medical assistances carried out during the three-day-detention can prove the fact. The doctor recorded that Fifia has breathing problems. He is short of breath and has allergic rinit. He also has problem with kidneys. Above all these, Fifia does not plead himself guilty because he was not with Tsikolia when committing the crime. He had no information about the incidents and Tsikolia confirms Fifia’s statement too,” said Khevsuriani.

The lawyer claims that the damage resulted from the crime amounted to three lari and it      cannot serve as a valid prove for accusation. The lawyer added that the charge under the Georgian Criminal Code, Article 19, 177, Section II “a” is groundless and the imprisonment is groundless. Consequently, he demands to drop the criminal case and prosecution on Fifia and immediately release him from imprisonment.

Lawyer Zaza Kvatsabia, coordinator for the Human Rights Center’s Zugdidi office defines that Fifia is in arbitrary detention. “Based on the above-mentioned circumstances, it is obvious that the accusations against Nika Fifia are fraudulent and lacks all evidences,” said Kvatsabia.

Nana Sajaia, Zugdidi