Investigator sentenced to 3 years in prison for putting psychological pressure on a minor, leading to suicide
By Khatia Bzhalava
Tuesday, September 8
Mariana Choloiani, a detective accused in the case of death of 15-year old Luka Siradze has been found guilty and sentenced to 3 years imprisonment by Tbilisi City Court. Choloiani was accused of psychological violence against the minor, who had a suicide attempt after the interrogations, on December 10-11th.
Luka Siradze, who jumped off of the 9th floor due to possible violence from police, died in the hospital on December 17th. According to the family and lawyer of the deceased, Choloiani pressurized the minor to plead guilty to the offense of damaging the property of the Mtsvane school in Tbilisi. The family and lawyer also said that during the interrogation, the violence against the teenager was intense, he was taken to a separate room for a couple of minutes, from where he returned crying. State Inspector Londa Toloraia stated that Choloiani threatened the 15-year-old that if he did not confess the crime, his brother would have ‘problems’.
After Siradze’s death, Choloiani was arrested and charged with two episodes of crime under the first part of Article 335 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which involves coercing a person to provide information. She was also deprived of the right to hold an official position at law enforcement agencies for two years.
A lawyer of the accused, Giga Mosiashvili stated that the City Court has made a politicized and unfair decision and plans to appeal the verdict. As he said, in the case, the only guide used by the prosecution for accusation was a testimony of the victim’s mother, which he thinks to be subjective, and as for testimonies of neutral witnesses, they have been ignored.
Family of the deceased demanded the punishment of a maximum term- 5 years, but, according to Siradze’s brother, considering that the defense side was proving quite the contrary (innocence of Choloiani), ‘we can not say that it(the sentence) is unfair.’ The family plans to consult with lawyers and then decide whether to appeal the sentence or not. Siradze’s brother said that they would continue to fight to punish the people who took part in the process of interrogation along with Choloiani.
