The Name of the Patrol Police Officer who Assaulted a Trader is Hidden

The Name of the Patrol Police Officer who Assaulted a Trader is Hidden

The Patrol Police Officer assaulted a trader Iamze Chkhapelia in Zugdidi, yesterday at 12 o’clock. The Police Officer, probably called Zviadi (although his name is still unknown), violated the law to make Chkhapelia stop street trading.

According to Chkhapelia, the aforementioned officer often assaults her and her blind daughter. “I am trading in the street without any violation of the law, nobody has the right to push me into a car. I sell bread, to earn some money to buy food for my daughter.” Chkhapelia lives alone with her daughter. As nobody can take care of the girl, Chkhapelia takes her to the market.

Mzevinar Kochua, the daughter of the trader, also talks about being assaulted. “Almost every day he comes and says “How ugly you are, you blind girl!” I am scared of him, I am afraid he will beat my mother up one day. I heard how they pushed mum into the car yesterday. I was sitting on the ground and could not move. I did not know where to look for her, what could I do?”

The representatives of the Zugdidi Police Department are now hiding the name of the officer. They have not made any comment about the facts and have not answered our questions. One officer however did say: “We have new staff and we do not know them”. Chkhapelia herself has been trying to find out the name of the police officer for two days, but so far without luck.

Maya Gubeladze from Zugdidi