Supreme Court does not satisfy Saakashvili's complaint about Girgvliani case
By Tea Mariamidze
Thursday, May 23
The Supreme Court of Georgia did not satisfy the suit of former President Mikheil Saakashvili regarding the verdict of the Court of Appeals delivered on July 18, 2018, according to which, Saakashvili was found guilty in Alexander (Sandro) Girgvliani murder case.
The information was released by the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia (POG) on May 21.
“The Supreme Court did not satisfy the cassation suit of former President Mikheil Saakashvili regarding the verdict of the Appeals Court, according to which, he was sentenced to three years in prison in absentia and was deprived of the right to take any state post for one year and five months,” the POG reports.
The agency reports that Saakashvili was found guilty in the case within the renewed investigation conducted by the POG, which was supervised by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe based on the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
“The court [ECHR] was shocked by the fact that various bodies of the state authorities – Ministry of Internal Affairs - with violations at the initial stage of the investigation; Prosecutor's Office with other violations at the next stage of the investigation; Penitentiary Department – by illegally placing convicts in one and the same cell; national courts –with inadequate court hearings and early release of the convicts; President of Georgia - by unjustified patronage of the convicts, etc - aimed at avoiding administration of justice in this terrible murder case," the POG added.
The agency says the investigation revealed that Saakashvili had promised then-Chief of the Constitutional Security Department to illegally pardon persons convicted of the murder of Sandro Girgvliani - Geronti Alania, Mikheil Bibiluridze, Avtandil Aptsiauri, and Aleksandre Gachava. He later pardoned them.
The agency claims that on January 27, 2006, at Cafe Shardin in Tbilisi, Sandro Girgvliani had a verbal argument with Tamar Merabishvili, the wife of Interior Minister Ivane Merabishvili, and Tatia Maisuradze, sitting at the table with David Akhalaia, then-Head of the Constitutional Security Department. The POG says that following the instructions of David Akhalaia, the officers of the Constitutional Security Department put Girgvliani and his friend into a car, illegally took them to Okrokana Cemetery and severely beat them.
The body of the tortured Girgvliani was later discovered in the vicinity of Okrokana Cemetery.
The POG says Saakashvili and the then high-ranking officials involved in the case concealed the crime and falsified the case materials.
Besides, the court also found seven people guilty in Girgvliani high-profile case for concealing the crime, falsification of the investigation, and creating comfort conditions in prison for the detainees.
