Prosecutor’s Office responds to accusations over Vazagashvili’s notorious murder case
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Wednesday, April 29
The Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia has released a special statement in connection with a notorious murder of Iuri Vazagashvili, who died in an explosion at his son’s grave.
The lawyer of Giorgi Sosanashvili, an individual detained for the murder of Vazagashvili, claimed that another DNA sample was found at the grave that belonged to the officer of the General Inspection of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Roin Asanidze.
The lawyer also claimed that Asanidze took the DNA sample from Sosanashvili one day before his arrest and planted it at the scene.
The Prosecutor’s Office states that the DNA profiles of two people valid for the examination were discovered on the hand grenade that claimed Vazagashvili’s life.
The officials stress that before the detention of Sosanashvili, DNA samples of 46 citizens had been compared with the aforementioned DNA profiles and none of them proved to be identical.
Later, based on the witnesses and mobile calls the investigation exposed that Sosanashvli visited the cemetery before the fatal incident.
“One of the above DNA profiles matched with the DNA profile of Sosanashvili, and the investigation continues to work actively in order to identify the other DNA profile,” the Prosecutor’s Office says.
The office stresses that Asanidze was interrogated in the capacity of a witness, and he categorically denied the taking of a DNA sample from Sosanashvili.
“Notwithstanding the absurdity of the defense party’s request, he himself expressed the desire that DNA sample be taken from him in the presence of the defendant’s lawyer as well as the affected party and appropriate examination be carried out in order to answer all questions arisen with regard to this matter,” the Prosecutor’s Office informs.
The body announces that the DNA sample taken from Asanidze was sent to the Forensics Bureau.
“Upon completion of the examination, the Prosecutor's Office will publish its results,” the office statement reads.
Iuri Vazagashvili was the father of Zurab Vazagashvili, who was killed by police in 2006 under very controversial circumstances and his death became one of the high profile cases that the Georgian Dream government had promised to investigate.
Iuri Vazagashvili became a victim of a grenade hidden at his son’s grave on January 20, 2015. Many linked the case to Iuri Vazagashvili’s non-stop fight to prove his son’s innocence.
