Son of MP and five others charged for violent assault
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Tuesday, July 14
Tbilisi City Court has sentenced Davit Kobaladze, the son of Koba Kobaladze, the first deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Security, and five other citizens to imprisonment as a measure of restraint.
Judge Zviad Sharadze did not consider the request of the defense to leave the accused without a measure of restraint or as an alternative to a bail of GEL2000, GEL5000, GEL10000.
According to the prosecution, David Kobaladze, along with five others attacked a 23-year-old boy with a purpose of revenge. According to the investigation agency, the deputy's son and three detainees physically assaulted him, and 2 of the detainees injured him with a cold weapon. In addition, the investigation accuses 1 person of covering up a serious crime.
Investigators began arresting those involved in the case after the information was voiced by one of the TV stations - TV Pirveli. It stated that a 23-year-old employee of the bank was severely beaten and stabbed in front of numerous surveillance cameras... “A frightened family cannot make a complaint because the trace brings to the son of an influential Georgian Dream MP,” the announcer said, adding that no one has been arrested, no one has been punished and ‘the whole state machine is working to cover this crime.’
This information was confirmed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. “Because of the live broadcast of the crime and the threat of hiding from the persons involved in the case, a decision was made to detain the persons,” the press service said.
A total of six people have been arrested, and a search has been announced for one of them. Law enforcers are accusing the MP's son and another detainee of gang violence (Article 126 of the Criminal Code, First Prima Paragraph, Subparagraph B), for which a fine or imprisonment of up to 2 years is envisaged. One person is accused of the same article and carrying a cold weapon (Part 2 of Article 238 of the Criminal Code of the USSR), for which imprisonment for up to 3 years is envisaged. The prosecutor's office charged 2 detainees with intentional grievous bodily harm (Article 117, Part 5, Subparagraph "e" of the Criminal Procedure Code). They face 7 to 10 years in prison. One detainee faces 1 to 3 years in prison on charges of aggravated assault (second part of Article 375 of the Criminal Code).
One of the attackers, charged with group violence, evades the investigation and will be put on a wanted list, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.
A 23-year-old boy was wounded in the center of Tbilisi on 24th of June. 6 people were detained by the investigation agency on 11th of July, 17 days after the incident, only after pro-opposition TV Pirveli channel announced that the son of the ruling party’s lawmaker also participated in the incident.
Commenting on his son’s involvement in the violence, Georgian Dream MP Koba Kobaladze, who served as the commander of the National Guards in the early 2000s, said his son appeared before police on his own initiative, adding that the justice must be taken care of.
