Two declared innocent after 11 years in prison
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Wednesday, February 22
Two men who spent 11 years in prison for the notorious murder case of senior Telasi employee Nika Lominadze was declared innocent by the Court of Appeals last week.
The detainees are former energy senior officials Gia Gvichiani and Nika Chemia.
The prisoners and the court stressed they were illegally arrested for the murder that took place in 2006.
After their release, Gvichiani stated that through his detention, the United National Movement government tried to shift public attention from another notorious murder case surrounding Sandro Girgvliani's death.
Meanwhile, the late Lominadze’s father said he believed Gvichiani and Chemia were guilty and they should have served their life imprisonment sentences, which had been given under the United National Movement leadership.
In November 2016, Georgia’s Chief Prosecutor’s Office stated they would address the Court of Appeals to recheck the sentences of three notorious cases under the previous state leadership, two of which were well-known murder cases.
The first case was the murder of Nika Lominadze, in which five people (Giorgi and Nodar Gvichiani, Nika Chemia, Avtandil Kherkeladze and Giorgi Papachashvili) were sentenced for committing premeditated murder n August 2006.
The Office also stressed "high-ranking officials were interested in the quick opening of the case” and pieces of "fabricated evidence” were invented to find the accused guilty.
