Marneuli Ex-Mayor Released from Jail

Former Mayor of Marneuli, Temur Abazov, was released from prison after the Rustavi Regional Court approved replacing Abazov’s imprisonment with a 10,000 GEL ($3,752) bail.

Abazov was arrested by the Prosecutor's Office on June 13, and the court sentenced him to 14-months in jail.

He was charged under Article 157 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, Article 1443, paragraph 2 (a), which envisages humiliating or inhumane treatment by a civil servant towards en employee or a person equal to him and arranging for the publication of an individual's private details.

Three other men have also been charged with abuse - United National Movement MP Azer Suleymanov, a Georgian Dream member of the Marneuli City Assembly, Ramin Alakhverdiev, and a relative of Abazov’s identified by the initials E.G.

In June 2018, the Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office alleged that Elchim Alakhverdiev (no relation to Ramin Alakhverdiev), a resident of Marneuli, attended the protests in Tbilisi on June 10. During the rally, he broadcast a live video on Facebook where he expressed his dislike of Mayor Abazov and insulted his wife. Later that evening, he received a phone call from Askerov asking to meet at the United National Movement office. When E. Alakhverdiev arrived, Suleimanov, R. Alakhverdiev, E.G., and several other unidentified persons were waiting. Suleimanov was angry about E. Alakhverdiev’s comments at the rally and accused him of insulting Abazov’s wife at the instruction of someone else, whose name he demanded. “After that, Suleimanov, Ramin Alakhverdiev, and E.G. physically abused him,” the Prosecutor’s Office reported.

Badly beaten, E. Alakhverdiev was then taken to a local restaurant by Jeikhun Choidarov, another member of the Marneuli City Assembly, where Abazov was waiting. “As soon as they arrived, Abazov spat at Alakhverdiev, forced him to turn on Facebook live and verbally abuse his own wife. Then Abazov forced the man to urinate in a glass and wash his face with it,” according to the Prosecutor’s Office.

Abazov from the beginning denied all charges, and after his release, he said he will file a lawsuit for defamation.

He claims that the only witness of the case is lying, adding it was “a well-staged provocation” against him.

“It was a serious psychological trauma to my family. I live with my parents and my wife. Imagine my spouse, three young children, watching how they were insulting us live…I was expected the court would release me because there was no evidence against me,” Abazov said.

By Thea Morrison

Related story:

Marneuli Mayor Arrested on Charges of Inhumane Treatment