Two leading police officials may be fired

Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs has stated that two high-ranking officials from the Shida Kartli department have been temporarily dismissed until the end of an investigation into a notorious car accident that claimed the life of 21-year old Beka Khakhubaia, son of Georgian parliament member Irakli Khakhubaia.

As the head of the Centre of Reformers NGO, Zviad Kuprava, wrote on his Facebook, Beka Khakhubaia was chased by the police, but the young man did not stop his car.

He was driving from Tbilisi to the west of Georgia, and as reported he was under the influence of alcohol.

As it appears, when Kakhubaia guessed that the police did not intend to stop chasing him, he decided to drive back to Tbilisi and turned his car around.

Meanwhile, patrol police officers used a trailer and blocked the road just in front of the Gori tunnel.

When the driver came out from the illuminated tunnel to the darkness, he was unable to see the trailer in and collided with it at a very high speed.

It was also reported that Irakli Khakhubaia himself phoned police and gave them the car's registration number to stop his son, as he was afraid that something bad might happen with him as he was driving while drunk.

The fatal case is one more example that Georgian people still very much need to raise of awareness over the issue of drink driving, as many still risk their and others’ lives.

Together with high fines and severe punishments, the relevant bodies must carry out a very active information campaign in order to raise awareness over the consequences of violating the rules of the road.

The case also reveals that the police must use non-life threatening practices to meet their obligations and use methods widely used abroad, such as the light damage of tyres with special devices on roads, to avoid fatalities.