Mother of a Dead Son Demands Suitable Punishment for Sukhitashvili’s Godson

What was the result of the amendments introduced to the law after Girgvliani’s murder?

Zoia Tsarielashvili, a resident of the village of Zerti in the Gori District, demands severe punishment for Gia Eliauri, who killed her fifteen-year-old son, Avto Merebashvili. The mother demands life imprisonment for the murderer.

Zoia Tsarielashvili said that her son was murdered by Gia Eliauri. He is the godson of Aleko Sukhitashvili, former chief of the Shida Kartli Regional Police Department and present Deputy of the Defense Ministry. Eliauri killed fifteen-year-old Merebashvili on 21 September 2004 on a religious holiday in the village of Zerti. Eliauri wounded another person, Nukri Besiashvili, a resident of the same village. However, the fact of wounding Besiashvili is not mentioned in the investigation materials.
 
Everything happened on September 21 2004 when Giorgi Eliauri from the village of Tsitsagiantkari visited the village of Zerti on holiday. At 9:00PM he was driving back home with his family members in car. In the center of the village, near the church, he had an argument with local people. Eliauri started shooting in air and Avto Merebashvili and Nukri Besiashvili were accidentally wounded.

Initially Eliauri was charged under the Georgian Criminal Code Article 109, subsection ‘g’. The article envisaged the premeditated murder in burdensome circumstances and threatened the lives of other people. Before May 2006 this particular article envisaged the imprisonment from 10 to 20 years or life imprisonment.

In May of 2006 regarding the amendment introduced to the Criminal Code the Article 109 subsection ‘g’ was merged into subsection ‘c’ of the same article and now it envisages less severe punishment. Lawyer Zaza Gigauri thinks that the article was altered because of Girgvliani’s case. Currently the article envisages imprisonment from 11 to 14 years. Consequently, the Tbilisi Appeal Court sentenced the accused to 13-year-imprisonment. The mother of the murdered boy thinks the punishment is not severe enough.

Tsitsino Merebashvili, witness: “Nikoloz Besiashvili told me that Niko Besiashvili was seeing off his guest from the village of Akhrisi. Near the church in the village of Zerti Gia Eliauri passed by some people gathered in the area and Besiashvili asked him to give lift to his guest. Eliauri refused saying he did not have a place in the car. The situation resulted into an argument.”

Shermadin Chighladze confirmed the same. Eliauri and his family visited him on that day. Chighladze said that the argument started because of the guest.

At the court hearing Eliauri said that he had no way out but shooting because those people wanted to rob and mug his car. 

Gia Eliauri: “I had not drunk alcohol because I was going to drive the car. On my way home I noticed crowd of people in the middle of the village. Approaching them, Shermadin Chighladze, whom I knew, stopped me by putting his hand on my car. He asked me to take him by my car around the village but I refused. Chighladze opened the car and told me to get out of the car; he wanted to have a talk with me. We went 10-15 meters away from the car and reaching the building of the mill; I looked back and saw that several men were following me. One of them demanded me to give him his car otherwise he threatened me to mug it. Of course I resisted and then a stranger hit me. Being surrounded with them I felt terrible pain in my waste and I was to draw my gun and fired in the air. Suddenly somebody grabbed my hand and tried to seize the gun. The gun fired accidentally and we both were wounded in legs. Then having seen I was on the ground they started to hit me. I managed to escape them.”

The case materials show that some time later Davit Bukhradze, that time chief of the District Police Department and Rezo Kldiashvili, the chief of the Criminal Police Department called Eliauri. These two high-ranking officials were close to Eliarui because the latter is the godson of Aleko Sukhitashvili.

That evening Eliauri did not go home. People from the village of Zerti went to his home that night and having discovered that Giorgi was not at home they thought he was hiding in the house and categorically demanded his family members to show them the boy.

Giorgi Eliauri considered that irritated people from Zerti attacked his family and took his family members hostages. “A strange man called me from my wife’s mobile phone and told me that they had taken my brother and uncle hostages. He demanded certain amount of money from me.” Eliauri was sentenced to pre-trial imprisonment. “When I was in prison, thieves were calling me and demanded to pay them 20 000 USD,” said the detainee.

Gia Eliauri said that he is victim himself; however, the mother of the murdered Merebashvili categorically denies his statements. According to the relatives of the killed boy, Eliauri’s statement was set up in his favor. High-ranking officials from the police department helped him to write such statement.

Zoia Tsarielashvili does not agree with the court verdict. She is going to appeal the verdict at the Supreme Court. She demands to abolish the verdict and carry out additional investigation on the situation.

Saba Tsitsikashvili, Gori