Intoxication named as a reason of Tatukhashvili’s death
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Monday, April 7
The Chief Prosecutor’s Office states that according to the medical examination, the cause of Shalva Tatukhashvili’s death was alcohol intoxication in combination with psychoactive drugs.
According to the report compiled by the National Forensics Bureau, most of the injuries on Tatukhashvili’s body were sustained a maximum of two days before his death, stressing that those injuries could not have been received on March 18, when the witness last visited the Prosecutor’s Office.
Tatukhashvili was working in the Constitutional Security Department of the Ministry of Georgia in 2005-2012. The Chief Prosecutor’s Office claimed that Tatukhashvili directly participated and was involved in the Navtlughi Special Operation, conducted by the Constitutional Security Department, which was chaired by Data Akhalaia. The operation resulted in the murder of three young people and Tatukhashvili was serving as a witness on the case. The Prosecutor’s Office has aired video materials where Tatukhashvili said that he gave a testimony against Data Akhalaia and was afraid of the Akhalaia family.
Family members of Tatukhashvili claim that the deceased was under pressure from the Prosecutor’s Office. Tatukhashvili’s sister states that Tatukhashvili himself told her about the pressure in private talks.
The UNM has released 18 questions concerning the case. UNM members have asked why the Prosecutor’s Office have not shown the full video, why did Tatukhashvili run from the guard sent by the Prosecutor’s Office if he was afraid of Akhalaia, and how the witness could have escaped from the house, which had bars on the windows.
The Chief Prosecutor’s Office has made the claim that no relevant questions have been left unanswered. The Minister of Justice Thea Tsulukiani backs the Prosecutor’s Office. “There is only one truth and I believe that this is what the chief prosecutor’s office states,” she said.
The Public Defender of Georgia, who has studied the case, has met with the Tatukhashvili family. According to him, if there are questions after the official investigation is over, temporal investigation commotion should be created at Parliament.
Head of the Georgian Young Lawyer’s Association, Kakha Kozhoridze, stated that each detail requires deep studying. According to him, it should be specified exactly how Tatukhashvili managed to hide from the guard and why, as well as why the investigation did not do its best to find Tatukhashvili when he ran from the guard.
