Date for Declaring the Judgment on Bachana Akhalaia’s Case Postponed

Salome Chkheidze

Court hearing on the criminal case on the former defense minister and minister of interior Bachana Akhalaia and other accused finished at the Tbilisi City Court. Defense side made final speech after what the judge left courtroom to pass verdict but later, assistant to the judge told the parties the trial was postponed and the date for declaring the verdict would be announced in several days.

The criminal case was launched on the punishment of soldiers in the Senaki infantry brigade # 2, illicit restriction of freedom of the businessman Zviad Abesadze and physical assault of soldiers in Vaziani brigade. According to the investigation, on February 16, 2010, seventeen officers of the Guardia department refused to participate in the morning exercises because they were drivers and had been on duty on the previous night.

At night to February 18, 2010, based on Bachana Akhalaia’s order, who was defense minister at that time, those seventeen soldiers were taken to Senaki brigade # 2 to punish. Bachana Akhalaia and Giorgi Kalandadze verbally and physically assaulted them. Then they were ordered to run in the cold naked during about one hour.

Afterwards, based on Akhalaia’s order, soldiers were locked in the bathroom of the same brigade, guards stood at the door; central heating was switched off and spent three nights and two days in terrible cold before February 20, 2010.

Prosecutor’s Office conclusion states with regard to Abesadze’s episode that Giorgi Kalandadze ruthlessly beat the businessman in the restaurant Maspindzelo and Akhalaia was in the same restaurant. Then Abesadze’s freedom was restricted during one day.

According to the Vaziani’s episode, in October of 2010, defense minister Bachana Akhalaia, together with Giorgi Kalandadze and commander of the fourth brigade Zurab Shamatava physically and verbally assaulted six soldiers in the working room of the defense minister. Bachana Akhalaia hit one of the soldiers Shota Bedoshvili with the knife handle in the head. After that, Akhalaia forwarded those soldiers to the Vaziani fourth brigade.

“The trial has been underway for several months already but victims in this case have not attended any of the process. It happened because victims do not exist in fact. They are victims of the prosecutor’s office,” Bacho Akhalaia said in his final speech.

Akhalaia’s lawyer Sulkhan Komakhidze wondered why Zurab Arsoshvili, former head of the National Guardia, was not accused in the same case. The lawyer said, Arsoshvili, like Kikabidze, was offered to make testimony against Akhalaia and he agreed unlike Kikabidze; afterwards Arsoshvili was interrogated only as a witness.

“Arsoshvili brought soldiers to Senaki brigade to punish them for the refusal to have dinner. Besides that, if soldiers really were locked in the bathroom, Akhalaia shall not be held responsible for that because the former minister told Arsoshvili to send soldiers to have a rest after exercises. Apparently, it was Arsoshvili who decided to lock soldiers,” Komakhidze said.

Giorgi Kalandadze made a long speech at the trial and said that he and other accused people are completely innocent and their imprisonment was political decision.

“It is result of dirty deal of Alasania and Tsulukiani. Our only crime is that we did not inform society about the achievements of the defense ministry when Akhalaia was in office,” the former head of the Joint Staff.

After parties made final speeches, Judge Giorgi Darakhvelidze went to the consultation room to pass verdict but later assistant to the judge notified the parties that the trial was postponed for uncertain time.