Prosecutor’s Office Releases Recording Amid Gov’t Related Scandal
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Wednesday, October 17
The Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office released a recording yesterday to respond to the related audio recording released by the opposition-minded TV channel Rustavi 2 on 14 October, in which imprisoned former official Mirza Subeliani allegedly tells the Georgian Dream lawmaker that he would release compromising materials against the Georgian Dream government, if the authorities do not help him leave prison.
Subeliani was detained in June this year for not reporting the teenagers’ murder case in December 2017, when two teenage boys were killed in the school brawl in central Tbilisi.
Father of one of the killed boys Zaza Saralidze says that Subeliani created an obstacle for the fair investigation of the case because of his relative, who allegedly killed his son.
Saralidze stated that Mikheil Kalandia, an adult, who is Subeliani’s relative, was very likely to be involved in the murder and he still walks free.
The Chief Prosecutor’s Office stated on Tuesday that Rustavi 2 released the audio recording which was taped in October, when, allegedly the TV channel had an access to all the three audio recordings illegally taped in prison.
In the recording released by the office, Subeliani says that he would tell lies to discredit the government if they still refuse to help him.
Subeliani says that the government may “break a promise” on his one-year prison term and he may face tougher punishment, which “is not fair, as I have done my best for the government and the charge I face does not envisage imprisonment.”
He says that he is “on the verge of insanity” and nothing is excluded from him.
He also tells Japaridze that Saralidze, “who has dealt with the opposition” is suppressing the government and the government may sacrifice him and Kalandia.
Subeliani’s lawyer stated that the suspect’s psychological condition is grave and he tried to commit suicide on Monday.
Saralidze has urged Subeliani to “take a brave step” and say that Kalandia was really involved in the murder.
After the release of one of the recordings by Rustavi 2, the opposition said that there were signs of systemic crime that was alarming.
The Prosecutor’s Office stated shortly after the Rustavi 2 scandal that they launched an investigation about the recordings before one of the recordings would have been released by the media.
The Prosecutor’s Office said that an employee of the Ministry of Corrections gave them the recordings.
“The individual told us that an unidentified person handed him the recordings and threatened him to release them, otherwise he would make videos of his personal life available to the public,” the Prosecutor’s Office said.
