Autopsy expert found not guilty
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Tuesday, March 17
Expert in the late PM Zurab Zhvania’s death case Levan Chachua has been found not guilty of negligence in his role in the case.
Before the final verdict Chachua was released on 10, 000 GEL bail on November 18.
Chachua is the former head of the Medical Examination Department of the National Forensics Bureau. He was detained on March 20, 2014.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, while examining Zhvania’s body, Chachua was neglectful and did not document Zhvania’s injuries in detail.
Chachua stated that we were waiting for such a verdict.
“I am innocent and the court made the right decision,” stressed Chachua.
The defense side claimed before the hearing that there was not a single witness or piece of evidence that indicated Chachua was guilty.
Meanwhile, Prosecutor Revaz Nadoi stated that the judge’s decision was incorrect.
“Judge David Mgeliashvili made the wrong decision. He turned out to be biased. We will appeal the verdict,” he said.
The late PM’s brother Gogla Zhvania, stated that there are still some individuals in the court system that are influenced by the previous government.
He stressed that there was video material presented in the court that revealed Chachua’s offense.
Zhvania, one of the co-authors of the Rose Revolution, and a member of the triumvirate, together with Mikheil Saakashvili and Nino Burjanadze, was found dead in a flat together with regional deputy governor Raul Yusupov on February 3, 2005.
The investigation of Zhvania’s case was reopened after the elections on October 1, 2012. The official cause of death released by the former government was carbon monoxide poisoning. The family members of Zhvania and Yusupov claim that the men were murdered.
