Five Top Servicemen Dismissed after Five Soldiers Wounded in Brawl
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Friday, August 3
The Ministry of Defense of Georgia announced about the dismissal of five top figures of the Kojori Sergeant Academy near the capital Tbilisi on Thursday.
The head of the academy, Vice Colonel, identified as Z.Z, Sergeant of the Academy G. B, Major A. R., Lieutenant V. M. and acting Sergeant A.G, were dismissed after August 1 incident which left five soldiers injured.
The Ministry of Defense explained that the Kojori Sergeant Academy is protected by the military unit of the academy and not by military police, as some of the media outlets stated.
The military police is investigating the case. The servicemen do not have life-threatening injuries, the Defense Ministry said.
"There was a physical dispute between the compulsory military servicemen, the ministry added.
Irakli Bazerashvili, Chief Investigator of the Military Police, told the local media that the weapon used in the conflict was not military.
"In the evening of the 1st of August, there was allegedly a verbal confrontation between compulsory military servicemen at the Training Academy which turned into the physical confrontation. Five servicemen suffered various injuries. All of them were immediately transferred to the hospital for treatment. At present, their lives and health are not in danger, Bezarashvili said.
He could not answer a question as to whether it was compulsory for the military police to be present on the ground during such a conflict, which caused controversies in the media.
The opposition criticized the government saying that the Georgian Dream leadership fails to prevent such incidents in the army.
