What Was the Price for a Position in Shida Kartli Governor's Board?

The famous case of Nino Avetisova, the former personal assistant of the governors, Mikheil Kareli and Irakli Okruashvili, will soon conclude in the Gori District Court. The Shida Kartli Prosecutor's Office detained Avetisova in spring, 2006. Gori residents had brought suit against her then. They complained that Nino Avetisova had extorted some money from them. The accused promised to find jobs for them with the help of Okruashvili and Kareli.

The claimant Laura Miruashvili said the following, "My son failed the national exams. My friend offered that his relative could assist my son in entering the institute. I gave the money to Avetisova at Nana Lursmanashvili's place. The sum that we had borrowed for this purpose amounted to 5,000 USD. Avetisova pretended to phone Okruashvili and Kareli. She told me that Misha Kareli insisted on having his money immediately… Avetisova warned me that she would omit my son from the list of students unless I gave her money that same day. Later on, I called her several times because my son was not on the list. She had taken my son to the institute and said that she had already registered him. She gave us some documents with a seal, but everything was false."

The claimant Tina Kvitsinashvili told us a similar story. "My friend, Ketino Meladze, phoned Nino Avetisova, who promised to help my son to get a job in the Georgian Bank's Gori branch and demanded money in exchange. Meladze called me that evening and asked if I could pay immediately, because Avetisova was about to go to Tbilisi and she wanted to take money with her. Ketino Meladze and my son went to the Administrative Board and gave her 2,500 USD. It happened in August 2004. In November, they disappeared, though Avetisova's mother promised me then to get the money back. "

The claimant Darejan Demurishvili said, "I knew Nino Avetisova's aunt, Irma Makishvili. Since I was unemployed, Irma Makishvili told me that her niece could find me a job. She was Misha Kareli's assistant (the governor). Initially, I hesitated because I did not have 2,500 USD. I went to the administrative board to see Nino. She did me a favor and let me pay her over time out of respect for her aunt. However, they both tricked me."

Claimants Tsatsa Kitiashvili, Darejan Turashvili, Lia Jamureli, Giorgi Broladze, Levan Masurashvili, Marine Bachadze, Lia Terunashvili and many others have similar complaints.

Prosecutor Giorgi Khachidze asked Nino Avetisova at the court hearing whether she had ever assisted anyone in getting a job. She answered, "If I could not keep my promise, I returned the money. However, these people did not give me enough time and instead sued me."

Avetisova pleaded guilty at the prosecutor's office. Soon after, law enforcement detained her live-in husband, Rezo Gogrichiani, too. He was accused of taking part in the fraud. However, the claimants do not blame him. Family members of Gogrichiani said that Nino Avetisova had mentioned Rezo as her accomplice, because police had promised to release her if she did so. According to them, Gogrichiani's mother-in-law acted against him because they had had serious family quarrel. The conflict between the families became evident during the trial.  It should be pointed out that Nino Avetisova's mother was also involved in the crime like Gogrichiani. However, she was not detained. According to the claimants' testimony, when they demanded their money back, Nino Avetisova's mother was bargaining with them together with Gogrichiani.

Law enforcers detained Rezo Gogrichiani on the basis of Avetisova's testimony. He will be tried for both fraud and robbery. According to the prosecutor's office, Nino Avetisova pointed out in her testimony during the preliminary investigation that Rezo Gogrichiani gave her a diamond ring which he had robbed from somebody. She had the ring at home.

According to Gogrichiani's lawyer, Davit Korkotashvili, the court has agreed with the prosecutor's office and relied on Avetisova's testimony. However, nobody has seen what was written in the testimony except the prosecutor himself. Nino Avetisova refused to repeat her statements in public. Paata Mantskava's name was mentioned at the trial. Avetisova also said that Paata Mantskava had brought the ring to the court and handed it to police. However, the judge did not question Mantskava.

The history of the diamond ring is the following. On September 30, 2004, Nino Avetisova's neighbor, Nutsa Pavliashvili, was robbed by four masked men. They seized jewelry and 300 USD from her. As we have already mentioned, the crime was solved in April 2006 when Nino Avetisova stated that Nutsa Pavliashvili's ring was in her house. Despite this fact, police did not visit her home until fifteen days later. Nutsa Pavliashvili recognized her ring, though without the stone, among three others. 

Then she recognized Rezo Gogrichiani among four masked people at the police station. She said she recognized him because of his eye color. Although Nutsa Pavliashvili said that she had not known Gogrichiani before, her daughter and Gogrichiani's wife, Nino Avetisova, were close friends. Nutsa Pavliashvili mentioned Dima Muradhashvili as a robber. "Dima Muradashvili returned my mobile phone to me two weeks later after I was robbed. They had copied all my incoming calls and   numbers which I had dialed. However, I cannot understand why police did not pay attention to this fact." said Nutsa Pavliashvili.

Despite these facts, Gori District judge Zaza Ramishvili found Rezo Gogrichiani guilty of fraud and robbery. He sentenced him to eleven years in prison. Nino Avetisova was sentenced to four years in prison. According to the verdict, the guilty should compensate the claimants.

Davit Korkotashvili, the lawyer said, "The judge agreed with the prosecutor's opinion without carrying out a court investigation. Avetisova used her right according to the law and refused to allow the court to investigate her testimony made during the preliminary investigation. Thus, the testimony cannot be used by the party as proof. Moreover, it cannot influence the verdict. Evidence was falsified. Proof against Rezo Gogrichiani was found on April 6, 2006 when Nino Avetisova was questioned as an accused. She said that the ring was in her house. Two weeks later, the ring was seized and recognized by the claimant. It shows that the proof was planted in Avetisova's house. The next stage was recognition of the ring. The differences between the rings, which were shown to the claimant, were great. The stolen ring lacked its stone as was mentioned in the case. The other rings were not damaged at all. As for recognizing the masked people, claimant Nutsa Pavliashvili said that she recognized Gogrichiani from his eyes. Such identification is not enough to blame Gogrichiani. In addition, the investigator finished his investigation before Gogrichiani was able to hire an attorney."

Lawyer Davit Korkotashvili investigated the stolen mobile phone and tracked down the real perpetrators. "Who would have imagined that if Nino Avetisova made such testimony, she would be given a lenient sentence? It is clear that they wanted to convict Rezo Gogrichiani," said Gogrichiani's relatives. Korkotashvili said he would appeal the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

Saba Tsitsikashvili, Gori