American Citizenship Is a Guarantee for Impunity

On December 7 2007 on Gori-Tbilisi high-way, American engineer Charles Thruceld knocked down Mamuka Gobejishvili when driving his car near the village of Agaiani. Gobejishvili died on the scene of the car-accident. Georgian law enforcers did not arrest American citizen on the place. At the moment Thruceld is in his native country. The investigation was dropped for the lack of evidences. However, the American citizen left Georgia before the Prosecutor’s Office made final conclusion. The relatives of the dead man still go on with their appeal and demand the punishment of the criminal.

Law enforcers did not interrogate witnesses of the car-accident. Only Charles Thruiseld and his friend, who sat next to him in the car during the accident, were interrogated as witnesses in the case materials. Gori Patrol Police investigator, Roland Vatiashvili was in charge of the case. He does not work at the patrol police at the moment.

Victim side did not trust the auto-technical examination and demanded alternative expertise. Conclusion of the initial expertise stated that the “Land-cruiser” was moving at 70km/h and could not brake the car immediately. The proof sounded too groundless because the car could have stopped only having gone 56 meters. Besides that the case materials do not show what sort of Land-Cruiser American engineer was driving. The victim side paid 300 lari for alternative expertise but the expertise was not held at all. Only Vatiashvili’s report on his over-phone conversation with the Gobejishvilis’ lawyer is enclosed to the case materials. The report states that the lawyer refused to carry out alternative expertise. Furthermore the case materials include Tkeshelashvili’s refusal to interrogate the witnesses though he had mediated on it beforehand.

Only after the investigation was dropped, Mamuka Gobejishvili’s mother Tsiala Gobejishvili learned the alternative expertise was not held.

One year after the car-accident, Supervisor Prosecutor of the Patrol Police, Levan Sabanidze, decided to stop investigation because of lack of evidences in the case.

Gobejishvili appealed against the Prosecutor’s decision at the Gori District Court. At the moment, Natia Kaliashvili, a lawyer for the Human Rights Center’s Gori office represents the Gobejishvilis at the court. The victim side demands to cancel the decision of the prosecutor and re-launch preliminary investigation on the case. However, the Gori District Court did not satisfy their demand.

“The case was investigated partially. The judge pointed out that there were some faults in the investigation. American engineer, with no previous immunity, enjoyed some priorities in this particular case. For example, the car was examined not on the scene of the accident but in the car park of the hotel Sheraton Metekhi Palace. As a rule, the car should have been taken to the penalty area. In addition to that, no genuine witnesses were questioned at all; however, the investigator said that he had questioned a witness who blamed the American man for the car-accident. It is very strange that the testimony of that witness is not enclosed to the material. The washed clothes of the dead person were examined a week later. The expertise of the dead body seems suspicious too, because the conclusion does not show that the man had iron in his leg as a result of the past operation. The investigation claimed that the victim was running across the road when the car knocked him over. Mamuka Gobejishvili had been operated on years before and the doctors had installed some iron in his leg; thus he could not run. We do not trust the auto-technical expertise because the accused claimed he was driving slower than 70 km/h. He said he was moving at 50-40 km/h. All these evidences were introduced to the court hearing but the judge Merab Gabinashvili did not take them into consideration at all. We expected him to act in this way,” said Kaliashvili.

The victim side states that if law enforcers do not want to charge American citizen, at least lawyer Tkeshelashvili or investigator Vatiashvili must be punished.

The first lawyer of the victim side, having taken 300 lari from the Gobejishvilis as a cost for expertise, disappeared. As for Vatiashvili he was sacked because of other criminal case he had investigated partially.

Natia Kaliashvili said that although they do not hope on the impartiality of the court, they are going to appeal against the initial verdict at the Investigative Bureau of the Appeal Court. 

Thea Tedliashvili, Gori