Political Motivated Spike in Murder Rate in East Georgia

Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti

Based on the official the statistics of the Prosecutor General’s Office the actual number of registered crimes has been significantly reduced. Moreover, it is officially reported that the number of grave and (especially grave crimes) has been very much reduced. In the same line of reporting, the number of solved crimes has actually increased. A total of 1,960 cases grave crimes were registered in November of 2006; 2007, 1 012 crimes were registered, which is through the month of November. The Prosecutor General’s Office reported that the number of grave offenses was also reduced in 2008. However, in spite of all the good news, such figures have not been confirmed by the experts who should know best.

In February of 2008 Davit Metreveli killed thirty-six-year-old Malkhaz Gogoladze in the village of Ulianovka in the Lagodekhi District. The murder scene was at the lake outside the village where Gogoladze was tending a fish-farm. Ira Gogoladze, the mother of the murder victim, said that Malkhaz was first tortured and had bullet wounds at various locations on his body. Davit Metreveli pleaded guilty and the criminal case was opened under the Criminal Code, Article 108.

On March 6 seventeen-year-old Beka Baindurashvili, a resident of the village of Magharo in Sighnaghi District, was murdered by Temur Sozashvili, a resident of the same village. As a result of argument Sozashvili killed Baindurashvili with an axe. Police soon arrested the accused followed what may have been an accident. A criminal case was launched and it yielded a charge of premeditated murder.

There was a grave murder in the village of Bakurtsikhe in the Gurjaani District. Guram Nikolashvili killed twenty-five-year-old Mamuka Songhulashvilli with knife in the village of Bakurtsikhe. The motive for the murder was that improperly sms messages had been sent.

On April 3 villagers found twenty-four-old Nika Khatiashvili hanging close the village of Akura in the Telavi District. Relatives stated Khatiashvili had gone to check the pasture and later that the evening he was found dead. One version of the murder makes a connection to there having been a robbery. Some injuries were found on the body of the dead man.

Forty-nine-year-old Nugzar Tkemaladze, a resident of the village of Leliani in Lagodekhi District was killed with a high degree of cruelty. The victim noticed robbers in his yard and the criminals responded by stabbing him a total of 16 times.

There was a murder in the village of Akhalsopeli in Kvareli District too. Two young men of approximately the same age had an encounter and Valeri Teresov killed Ilia Buzaladze

Law enforcers reported that Givi Chincharauli, Roman and Valeri Kaianovs killed a sixty-three year old woman, Eter Maisuradze in her home.

All these accidents occurred in Kakheti Region in February, March and April. Despite our many requests the Kakheti Regional Main Department of the Internal Ministry has refused to provide us with the information as just how many such violent crimes occurred in 2008 throughout the region.

“In accordance of the Article 4, paragraph IV-a.; of the Georgian General Administrative Code … we are unable to provide you with the requested information. Demands of the law do not apply to police institutions,” Gocha Tediashvili, Deputy Head of the Police Department, explained the reason why they refused to share public information.

Representatives of the local NGOs state that the criminal situation has been worsened since Presidential Elections on January 5, 2008 in the region.

“After the elections the board of the Regional Department of the Internal Ministry was changed. Irakli Kadagidze, the former head of the Tbilisi Police Department, was appointed as the new head of the regional department. I think similar personnel changes were the results of the slim victory of Mikheil Saakashvili in January’s snap presidential elections in the region. It is evident that after the personnel changes, the law enforcement bodies have been more involved in resolving various election problems. Although it is illegal, police officers are active in politics and are busy in making positive statements in favor of the United National Movement. Police do not have the time to be occupied with protecting public order and fighting crime. The institution works to support the government to keep their positions,” said Lia Khuroshvili, a lawyer for the Human Rights Centre.

It is noteworthy that criminal situation has particularly aggravated when Irakli Kadagidze was the head of the Tbilisi Police Department.

Giorgi Bokeria, Executive Director of the “Association for the Development of the Georgian Civil Society”, connects the worsened criminal situation in the region with several factors. “On of the most urgent at this moment is the approaching election period. The entire state apparatus is working to support United National Movement. It is clear that Georgian society as a whole has become indifferent to such a crime. I do not exclude the possibility that it has resulted from the reforms implemented in the police. Many non-professionals are now working in the system,” said Bokeria.

Experts expect hat criminal situation might get worse in the lead up and following elections.