MIA: teenager committed suicide after being assaulted and robbed
By Nika Gamtsemlidze
Monday, September 30
Defendants were detained in connection with the case of a 16-year-old boy who fell from the 9th floor in Varketili, Tbilisi. The decision was made by Arsen Kalatozishvili, judge of the Tbilisi City Court.
At yesterday’s hearing, some of the lawyers were asking to leave their clients without a measure of restraint, while others demanded bail. Two of the detainees are minors, none of the detainees pleaded guilty.
The investigation has found that the defendants verbally abused G.K. born in 2003, in the presence of his friends on September 23, and seized his mobile phone in abusive circumstances. The minor committed suicide after the incident.
Investigation is in progress under the Articles 178, robbery, i.e. explicit seizure of another person's movable property for its unlawful appropriation which has resulted in considerable damage; 115, Incitement to suicide or attempted suicide accompanied with intimidation or cruel treatment of the victim or by degrading of the victim's honour or dignity; 236, Illegal carrying of firearms, ammunition, explosive substances or equipment, and Illegal manufacturing, transportation, forwarding or sale of firearms, ammunition, explosive substances or equipment.
According to prosecutor Natia Komoshvili, some witnesses saw how the defendants carried out a group robbery. The prosecutor does not speak about the evidence in the case out of the interest of the investigation, saying that the court fully accepted the prosecution's position.
As one of the lawyers of the defendants, Zurab Rostiashvili, said, the phone was pawned to the broker for one day only, “which means that they were planning to return the phone to its owner.” According to the lawyer, G.K. voluntarily gave his phone to the defendants.
"I would be glad if the investigation was at that level to be able to determine what happened on the roof. My client came to the police station voluntarily, there was no danger of him hiding,” noted Rostiashvili.
According to the Interior Ministry, six people have been arrested. They are accused of robbing a minor, after which the16-year-old committed suicide.
The following have been arrested based on a judge's ruling: G.S. born in 1999, G.B. born in 2002, convicted multiple times for theft, G.G. born in 1998, G.M. born in 2002, G.T. born in 1998, convicted of violence and robbery in the past.
The crime envisages imprisonment from 2 to 8 years. The pre-trial hearing for the case is scheduled for October 30 at 2:00 pm.
