Prosecutor’s Office investigates leakage of testimonies of notorious Cyanide Case
By Tea Mariamidze
Wednesday, October 4
The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia (POG) has launched an investigation over the distribution of the testimonies of the high-profile Cyanide Case witnesses in the media.
"Recently, various media outlets circulated materials of the Cyanide Case several times. The Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation under the article 374 of Criminal Code of Georgia,” the statement of the POG reads.
In early September, Tbilisi City Court sentenced archpriest Giorgi Mamaladze, who was accused of the attempted murder of the Patriarch’s Secretary, Shorena Tetruashvili, with cyanide, to nine years to prison.
In the post-trial statement released by Tbilisi City Court, the court says that the motive of the attempted murder was “revenge.”
Mamaladze’s lawyers and brother claim the decision is “absolutely groundless” and Judge Besik Bugianishvili is a “slave” of the current Georgian Dream leadership and some influential figures in the Georgian patriarchate.
Lawyer Mikheil Ramishvili says the health condition of the detained archpriest is grave and he is under the supervision of doctors.
“The sugar level of archpriest Mamaladze dropped and the fact that he is not taking food and medicaments affects his health. They are destroying his health and life,” Ramishvili stressed.
He added the doctors will decide if it is necessary to transfer the cleric to hospital.
Archpriest Mamaladze was arrested at Tbilisi Airport on February 10. The clergyman was detained with cyanide en route to Berlin, where Georgia’s Catholicos-Patriarch was having a gallbladder operation. Shorena Tetruashvili was in the hospital with the Patriarch.
The defense assures that the Archpriest is the victim of a group of high-ranking people who wanted to remove him from the position of Head of the Property Management Department of the Patriarchate.
