Gharibashvili accuses UNM in failure on Rapaliantsi case
By Tea Mariamidze
Friday, September 19
Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili made a statement regarding Barbare Rapaliantsi’s murder case.
Gharibashvili stated that the UNM government had 25 days to investigate the crimes after it took place. The official admits that investigating the case would be easier shortly after the crime, but the UNM did not do this.
“When we took office, the investigation was already in gridlock, all the evidence was lost,” Gharibashvili said.
Meanwhile, Georgia’s legislative body will hypothetically discuss the expediency of the creation of the parliamentary commission regarding the case in the near future.
The initiation was reportedly raised by the parliamentary minority at the bureau session on September 18.
As the minority deputies say, two years have passed since the crime was committed. However, the investigators have proven to be inept in solving the case so far, and thus the necessity to create the investigation commission.
UNM MP Giorgi Vashadze states that the Georgian Dream coalition used the case during the elections, as the supporters of the Georgian Dream appealed to people not to vote for the party that killed the little kid (meaning the UNM).
The attorney of the Raphaliantsi family said a couple of days ago that the Georgian Dream party had an interest in covering-up many details in the Barbare Raphaliantsi homicide investigation. In 2012, 10 month-old Barbare Rafaliantsi was found drowned in a clay pitcher in her family’s cellar. The prosecutor’s office has been investigating the case for about two years now without success.
Rapaiantsi’s death was marked as a high-profile case and was taken under the personal control of then Interior Minister, Irakli Gharibashvili.
