The leaders of Lelo For Georgia speak up about legal system malfunctions
By Anastasia Sokhadze
Friday, August 21
The leaders of the political party recalled Tornike Merebashvili, who was killed on July 6th, 2018, and once again informed the public that the investigative bodies are taking the case in the wrong direction. According to Lelo, Merebashvili's real killer is free, and the person whose guilt has not been confirmed has been sentenced.
According to Ana Natsvlishvili, one of the leaders of Lelo, the same prosecutor is involved in the cases of Merebashvili and Shakarashvili.
“Today we are talking about a very serious case related to the murder of an 18-year-old boy, which is still uninvestigated. His parents have been asking for one thing for two years now - to find out who killed their son and, unfortunately, instead of the investigators answering this question, the investigation has been busy falsifying the case and claiming a false version. This case is also distinguished by the fact that a person who is known to be guilty and is currently in prison is not proven to have committed this crime and, consequently, on the one hand, due to a wrong investigation by the state, the parents cannot get justice and on the other hand, an innocent person is sitting behind the bars. Investigative agencies did not conduct any investigative actions aimed at establishing the truth,” stated Natsvlishvili.
"Despite the numerous pieces of evidence in Tornike Merebashvili's case, the investigation is going in the wrong direction, the case is being deliberately falsified,” added Kakha Kozhoridze, one of the leaders of Lelo.
The leaders have two Samkharauli conclusions issued in 2018-2019. Both conclusions contradict each other as they are independent. The expert's report refutes Samkharauli's conclusion. The family and their lawyer have filed a number of complaints, but the case is still uninvestigated.
According to Kozhoridze, it is noteworthy that the prosecutor in this case, Nana Gugutishvili, is also the prosecutor in the case of Giorgi Shakarashvili.
18-year-old Tornike Merebashvili was found dead on July 6th, 2018, on the Gori-Mejvriskhevi road. According to the MIA, an investigation started under the Article 115 of the Criminal Code of Georgia – bringing a person to suicide. In the course of investigation, the qualification of the charge changed into Article 117 Part 1 and Article 276 Part V of the CCG – intentional grave injury of another's body and violation of security or exploitation rules of the vehicle which caused the death of a person.
