The Teen Murder Case & Protests Summarized

The murder that led to the ongoing protests took place on December 1, near Tbilisi Public School 51, when a confrontation started among six teenagers. Two 16-year-old boys were brutally stabbed during the brawl, which caused the immediate death of one, with the second boy dying soon after in hospital.

One of the suspected juveniles was arrested at the scene, while the other hid from police but surrendered soon after.

A street protest started last Thursday after Tbilisi City Court announced the verdict in the case of the stabbing of the two teens in which the two minors detained for the murder were found guilty.

The judge found one of the detainees guilty for the premeditated murder of one of the victims- Levan Dadunashvili, while another detainee was found guilty for the attempted murder of the second victim- Davit Saralidze. But the court was not able to say who in fact killed Saralidze.

After the trial, the father of Davit, Zaza Saralidze, went to the Chief Prosecutor’s Office, asking for a “fair investigation.”

Chief Prosecutor Irakli Shotadze resigned shortly before the protest rally began outside the old Parliament building on Rustaveli, ultimately seeing thousands gathering to demand “justice” and an overhaul of the justice system.

The rally became even more political when Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili arrived on the scene to a deliver a message but was not permitted to speak, booed off by aggressive members of the crowd. Instead, he retired to the governmental administration to make his statement live on TV.

Kvirikashvili stated the investigation would be re-launched the next day and that the Minister of Internal Affairs, Giorgi Gakharia, would lead the process and periodically inform the public about the results.

The PM added that Parliament had decided to set up an investigative group where the opposition would be represented as well as the majority, united in supervising the process.

Of Chief Prosecutor Irakli Shotadze’s resignation, Kvirikashvili said he approved his decision to quit amid the doubts and questions regarding the case.

According to Kvirikashvili, the process of selecting a new Chief Prosecutor will start as soon as possible. He emphasized that the opposition, NGOs and society would be involved in the selection process in order to eliminate any doubts regarding a new Prosecutor General.

“I want to guarantee the deceased children’s parents and relatives that they will receive maximum information about the investigation,” Kvirikashvili said. “I take it as my personal responsibility to get results in this case. This is our response to the families of the victims and to political groups.”

On June 1, the President of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili, met personally with Zaza Saralidze to discuss the case, following the latter’s statement that the only politician he trusted to speak the truth was the President.

After the meeting, Margvelashvili stated he would be sure to get involved in the process to reveal the truth while ensuring stability in the country.

“My goal is to have a relationship with Zaza and other people who have this pain in their hearts, in order to ensure peace in the country,” he stated.

“My only demand of the President was to hold all the people involved in my son’s murder responsible,” Zaza Saralidze said after the meeting.

Monday June 4 saw the PM inviting the parents of the deceased teens to a special meeting to discuss the case. Saralidze, having repeatedly mentioned feeling “under pressure from the government” took with him other parents of deceased teens and his lawyer. Present were majority and opposition party members, justice body representatives, media and the family members and lawyers of the murdered teens.

At the conclusion of the meeting, it was announced that the PM had once again promised to look into the cases. “All our demands must be studied and responded to,” said lawyer Mariam Kublashvili.

Saralidze added that if their demands are not met by June 10, they will hold large-scale rallies. “Our demand is unchanged: the offender should be punished. The Prime Minister has been given a reasonable term to act.”

Human rights organizations the same day released a joint statement regarding the recent protests, labeling them “a clear indication of a crisis in the country.”

“The majority of reforms declared by the government in the system of law-enforcement and the judiciary has proven to be pro-forma and these reforms have done nothing to eliminate the public’s sense of deep injustice and vulnerability,” the NGOS stated. “Recent high-profile cases have clearly shown the problem of excessive use of authority by law-enforcement, which has not been followed by an effective investigation.”

The NGOs made a list of proposals, saying it will help the government to find a way out of the current situation:

1. Ensure comprehensive and effective investigation and fair prosecution of the teenagers’ murder case, including abuse of power and possible instances of falsification in service by officials linked with the case;

2. The parliamentary commission should monitor not only the case of the teenagers but other similar cases as well, which contain signs of excessive use of power by the law enforcers;

3. Dismiss those officials who failed to ensure implementation of consistent, meaningful and effective reforms in the field of criminal law and justice;

4. To ensure broad involvement in the process of selection of the new Chief Prosecutor (since the Prosecutor General resigned amid the protests);

5. Renew works on the creation of an effective independent investigative mechanism that will not only investigate but also have the function to criminally prosecute crimes committed by the law-enforcement system.

6. Timely reform the justice system and launch a fundamental reform of the Prosecutor’s Office, the Interior Ministry and the State Security Service.

The temporary parliamentary investigative commission to be set up in connection with the murder case will be headed by the representative of the parliamentary minority European Georgia, Vice Speaker Sergi Kapanadze, and of 17 seats, will see 9 members taken by European Georgia and the remainder taken by majority party members. The United National Movement has said it will not participate in the work of the commission.

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By The GT Team