Election Struggle without Rules

Lela Khechoshvili

On June 9, 2010 TV-Company “Imedi” reported in its morning news program that director of the public school in the village of Balghojiani in Kvareli district Zurab Tabagari was accused in the attempt of the rape of a school-girl from the 9th form. Three teachers accused the director in the crime. On the same day, one more telecast was shown by the TV-Company “Imedi” in its 8:00 pm news program “Chronicle” where a resident of Balghojiani village Levan Kekenadze stated that the school director was blamed in similar activities in the past too and several people wanted to kill him because of his behavior.

Based on the directives from the ministry of education the Board of Trustees suspended the power of the school director. The prosecutor’s office started investigation under article on debauched activities.

Zurab Tabagari, former director of the Balghojiani public school: “On June 9, I visited the education resource-center of Kvareli district. I returned to the village in the afternoon. Policemen and teachers were in the building of village administration; the teachers were complaining about me. The girl was also with them. I knew that those teachers – Nino Modebadze, Liana Kupatadze and Eldino Iobashvili – acted against me but I could not imagine that they could blame me in such a crime. The girl is class-mate of my daughter. I taught them. She could not learn properly because she has mental problems and cannot speak well. She often missed classes and on June 4 I asked her to learn at least one lesson to give her a mark in order to give certificate of compulsory education in the 9th form. After lessons she told her friends that she was afraid of me. The children inquired and she told them I was abusing her.”

Mari Gogshelidze, pupil of the Balghojiani public school: “On Friday we had lesson of Zura Tabagari. That girl has taken one school-year two times. The director asked her the lesson but she did not know. The director asked her to learn at least two paragraphs from the lesson to give a mark. He even asked us to help her. After the lesson she started crying; she said she would not stay after lessons because the director abuses her. I suggested her to tell her parents about the problem. She said she could not tell her parents and asked us or teachers to inform her parents. Then teacher of Georgian language Nino Modebadze entered the classroom and asked what was going on. The girl told her everything. On the next day we accompanied Nino Modebadze to her house where her brother-in-law Akaki Kekenadze met us. Kekenadze questioned our class-mate. After our leaving the girl stayed with them.”

Maia Tsertsvadze, mentor of the class: “I was the last to learn about the incident. I do not know what happened at school on Friday. On Saturday, Nino Modebadze called me and told me such terrible things were happening in my class. On the same evening I went to the family of the girl and explained the situation to the parent. The child told us the same story. The mother said her second child was ill and she was going to Tbilisi next day. She could make decision what to do only after arrival. Nino Modebadze prepared an appeal to the police department and described everything what the child had said. The girl signed the appeal. The girl often missed lessons. In the second term she had missed 74 lessons. I informed her mother about it but she did not pay attention to it.”

Nino Modebadze, teacher of Georgian language and literature: “I was astonished by the fact. I informed the mentor of the class about the incident. She met the mother of the girl and spoke with her about it. The mother said she did not want to make the information public; she was going to Tbilisi and after her arrival she would attend to the problem herself.”

-But you did not pay attention to the mother’s position and appealed to the police?

-I did not call the police; Eldino Iobashvili called them on Monday after lessons in order not to allow the mother to withdraw her daughter from school and leave the school-director unpunished. 

-Did you have disagreement with the director?

-Yes I had. One day I was not at school and he gave low mark to one of my pupils and we had quarrel about it.

-Before that, why did you call the girl, her classmate and mentor of the class Maia Tsertsvadze to your house?

-We interviewed the girl once more. We heard details from her. The girl repeated that the director was patting her on the chest, made her take off the trouser and patted her.

-Why did your brother-in-law Akaki Kekenadze attend this interview?

-Because he was member of the municipal board from the village. He is a lawyer and could give some suggestions to us.

-Did you write the appeal against the director?

-Eldino wrote and I copied it out.

-Did the girl sign the appeal?

-Yes she did. The teachers also signed the appeal: Maia Tsertsvadze, Liana Kupatadze, Eldino Iobashvili and I. We confirmed by our signatures that everything written in the appeal was told by the child.”

Akaki Kekenadze was member of the previous municipal board of Kvareli district. He was candidate of the United National Movement for the municipal elections of May 30, 2010 from the village of Balghojiani. Maia Tsertsvadze was member of the precinct election commission from the National Movement in the village; Nino Modebadze is a sister-in-law of Kekenadze and was his agitator in the village during the pre-election campaign. Liana Kupatadze was agitator of the National Movement in the village. Kekenadze lost the elections. Candidate of the opposition parties Kakhi Kapanadze won the elections in Balghojiani; he represented the National Council in the elections.

Zurab Tabagari: “I am blamed in the failure of Kekenadze at the elections. I was school director and they thought I had influence in the village and could assist Kekenadze to win the polls. I could not visit families and suggest people to vote for him. The teachers who accuse me in debauched activities used to declare publicly that if Kekenadze won the elections, they would be able to get rid of me from school. They wanted to occupy high positions at school. Kekenadze lost elections and they started nasty campaign against me.”

25 teachers work at Balghojiani public school. We interviewed 14 teachers. They said the school director had never been accused in similar activities before. “Teachers, who use all nasty methods to occupy positions at school, should not work at school at all.” “When the education ministry ordered the Board of Trustees to suspend the power of the director we suspended the functions of the teachers too.” “They actively opposed the director. They were looking for the reason to find some accusations against him.” “We remember rude activities of Zurab Tabagari but when he was accused in such a crime, even those people came to support him who had some disagreement with him,” said the teachers Maia Tsertsvadze, Naira Martiashvili and others.

Tamaz Chighladze, commissary of the territorial entity in Balghojiani village: “I will never believe that Zurab Tabagari had any relation with the girl. It is incredible! This nasty information is completely false.”

Residents of Balghojiani village stated that short time ago the same girl accused other young boys from the village in debauched activities.

Goneri Guruli, resident of Balghojiani: “Short time ago, that girl blamed my son and 5 more boys in the same crime. She said my son had offered her 3 GEL for the intercourse. We were called to the police station several times and finally they got sure that the girl was lying and left us alone. As for Eldino Iobashvili, she visited families before elections and asked us to vote for Kekenadze and promised that Zurab Tabagari would not be school director after the elections.”

Nobody knows where the girl is. The father said the mother had taken her from the village. “I am a pasture and cannot tell you anything. You should ask her mother about this problem. I do not know where the mother is,” said the father.

According to the Kvareli district police department, only one criminal case was launched on the attempted rape of a school-girl or on the debauched activities. The case was launched on June 9, 2010. The police department confirmed that the girl blamed other villagers in the same crime short time ago but preliminary investigation could not discover any signs of crime and they did not launch criminal case.

We got in touch with the man who gave the interview to the correspondent of the TV-Company “Imedi” on June 9, 2010. The man turned out the father of Akaki Kekenadze – Levan Kekenadze.

-Who blamed Zurab Tabagari in debauched activities and who wanted to kill him?

“He and his wife did not vote for my son in the elections and they deserved similar scandal,” said Levan Kekenadze in reply.

According to the news center of the ministry of internal affairs, no criminal cases were launched against Zurab Tabagari on similar crimes in 2000-2009. The prosecutor’s office has never carried out criminal prosecution against Zurab Tabagari before. On June 16, 2010 one more criminal case was launched regarding the Balghojiani public school at Gurjaani district prosecutor’s office. The investigation was launched under Article 332 Part I of the Criminal Code of Georgia which envisages abusing of power. Eldino Iobashvili, Nino Modebadze and Liana Kupatadze blame Zurab Tabagari in unreasonable expenditure of the school budget.

Did the teachers have right to interview the girl without her parents’ permission and how reliable is the testimony of the girl with mental problem for the investigation? Lawyer of the Center for the Children and Women’s Rights at the Public Defender’s Office Ana Abashidze said that when the rights of a juvenile are breached, legal representative is entitled to act in compliance with the law and inform the law enforcement officials about the offence.

“If the parent does not defend the rights of the juvenile properly, the state – and school in particular case as a legal entity – is entitled to defend the rights of the child. According to general principles, the basis to estimate the guiltiness of a person should be reliable evidence against him/her. As for the child with mental problems, according to the Article 95 Part II of the Criminal Procedural Code, s/he can be interrogated as a witness if s/he can realize, remember and recall all important circumstances connected with the crime despite his/her physical or mental problems,” said the lawyer.

The article was prepared within the project “Investigative Group of Journalists in Kakheti” with financial support of Eurasian Partnership Foundation in the framework of the EU funded project - “Strengthening the Media’s Role as a Watchdog Institution in Georgia”.
The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the Kakheti News Center and cannot be taken as to reflect the views of the European Union and Eurasian Partnership Foundation.