8 MPs Demand Life Sentence for a Man Who Allegedly Killed Nine-year-old
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Wednesday, November 7
Eight lawmakers in the Georgian parliament have demanded the life sentence for 34-year-old Iago Nebieridze, who allegedly tortured, raped and killed a nine-year-old girl in eastern Gori town at the end of October.
"We are responding to the brutal murder of eight-year-old Nana Beriashvili in the town of Gori. First of all, we offer our sympathy to Nana Beriashvili's family, every citizen living in Gori and Georgia. Each of us fully shares the public outrage and realizes our responsibility to protect every citizen of this country and punish offenders. Due to all above mentioned, we fully agree with the request of a large part of the society concerning the life imprisonment of 34-year-old Iago Nebreidze, who had been convicted of robbery in the past.
“At the same time, we are convinced that the strong and independent Georgian court will make a fair and adequate decision"- reads the statement signed by MPs Kakhaber Okriashvili, Gogi Meshveliani, Guram Macharashvili, Koba Lursmanashvili, Anzor Bolkvadze, Enzel Mkoyan, Tengiz Khubuluri and Giorgi Khatidze.
Family members of the killed girl are demanding the handing over of the man to torture and kill him as he allegedly did to the minor.
Grandfather of the murdered told this to the media after police showed him a video in the suspect’s phone, which allegedly displays torture and deceived action to the minor.
The family has also accused several members of the current ruling party due to the large-scale amnesty in 2013; a year after the Georgian Dream coalition defeated the nine-year-rule of the United National Movement leadership.
The Georgian Dream member Gia Volski stated that Nebieridze was detained in 2005 for the case which concerned the disappearance of an 11-year-old boy. The boy is still missing. However, the court found Nebieridze guilty only of money extortion and was sent to prison for three years.
In 2009 Nebieridze still appeared in prison for robbery and burglary and was sent to prison for 17 years. However, after appealing the verdict and due to the large-scale amnesty in 2013, his sentence was decreased to 10 years in 2014.
Volski says that Nebieridze left prison on 9 February 2018 as his remained sentence was halved by the presidential pardon.
Volski explained that those who are sentenced for pedophilia and similar offenses are never pardoned. However, Nebieridze has not been sentenced for such an offense.
