Parliamentary Commission Ready to Adopt Draft on High Profile Murder
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Monday, September 3
A parliamentary commission created to investigate a high-profile murder case of two teenage boys last year says that it is ready to adopt its conclusion over the murder this week, on September 6.
The commission has already launched open sessions that will continue including September 5, while on the next day the commission composed of the parliamentary majority and minority members will vote for the final document on September 6.
“It will be an extensive document,” the head of the commission from the European Georgia opposition Sergi Kapanadze said.
The opposition members of the commission claim that they revealed some new details of the case, which led to the resignation of Chief Prosecutor Irakli Shotadze.
Two 16-year-old boys were stabbed to death in a school brawl in Tbilisi on December 1, 2017. Davit Saralidze died in hospital due to multiple wounds in his back, while Levan Dadunashvili died immediately.
The court has sentenced two teenagers so far. An individual identified as G.B. was sentenced to ten years and six months for the premeditated murder of Dadunashvili while G.J. to nine years and nine months for the attempted murder of David Saralidze.
Since the court verdict failed to identify the actual killer of David Saralidze his father Zaza Saralidze started a protest rally at the end of May demanding the government hold accountable the real killers.
The rallies led to the resignation of Chief Prosecutor Shotadze and the return of the case to the supervision of the Interior Ministry.
One individual, a former official of the Chief Prosecutor’s Office, whom Saralidze believed to have hindered the investigation process and helped "other offenders” walk free, was also detained. The ruling party also agreed on the creation of the parliamentary commission, with more opposition members, to investigate the case.
