Nora Kvitsiani’s Lawyer Says Witnesses Are Threatened

Yesterday, court hearing on Nora Kvitsiani-Arghvliani’s case was renewed at the Gali-Gulrifshi District Court. Several minutes before her trial, Nazi Tsulukidze, a witness for Kvitsiani’s case, was tried too. The latter was sentenced to two-month pretrial imprisonment for retracting her initial testimony. Another witness, Temur Chkhetiani, shared Tsulukidze’s fate on the basis of the same offense. At the trial, the witnesses, who had been introduced to the court by the accused side, made retracted testimonies in Kvitsiani’s favor. Thus they changed their old testimonies made during the preliminary investigation.

Yesterday, the prosecutor produced Chkhetiani’s application to the trial in which the witness demanded to let him make new testimony in which he would repeat the details he had spoken about during his initial statement. Nora Kvitsinai’s lawyer, Paata Buchukuri said that the witnesses are threatened. “Chkhetiani made his testimony at the trial in Nora Kvitsiani’s favor. His testimony differed from previous statements he had made during the preliminary investigation. Chkhetiani said that the report of his initial testimony did not show the information he had said during the interrogation. Besides that, he had signed the report without looking it through. Afterwards, Chkhetiani met the representative of the Public Defender and said that the testimony he had made at the trial was true. After detention, Chkhetiani demands to let him make one more statement and repeat his initial statement. The situation makes me think that the witness is suppressed and the same might happen in Tsulukidze’s case too,” said Buchukuri who added that the court does not aim to estimate the truth.

Nora Kvitsiani’s trail is earmarked for March 28.

Nana Sajaia, Zugdidi