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Police Detain Three Members of Criminal Group

Three Georgian men have been detained on charges of being members of a criminal group and supporting or participating in a criminal group gathering.

The crimes committed envisage imprisonment from 3 to 10 years. The information was released by Vladimer Bortsvadze, Deputy Interior Minister on March 26.

“An investigation has established that one of the defendants, who is a stakeholder of a private company, addressed two his fellows - members of the “criminal underworld” to settle a dispute with his business partner. The mentioned persons met with the business partner of the defendant, introduced themselves as the representatives of “thief-in-law” Zaal Makharoblidze (with nickname “Glekhovichi”) living abroad and demanded he the give up a significant share of the company,” Bortsvadze stated at a special press conference.

The Deputy Minister added the law enforcers detained all the three defendants in their own houses and seized firearms and mobile phones during the search.

In mid-April 2018, the Parliament of Georgia adopted proposed amendments by the Ministry of Internal Affairs on tightening the punishment for organized criminal group membership.

According to the changes, any person who appears to be a member of a criminal group or a "thief-in-law", for the purpose of settling any dispute or making any decisions, or supports the criminal world, will be punished according to criminal law.

Also, any person who organizes a meeting of criminals or so-called “thieves-in-law”, or takes part in such meetings, will be punished.

Furthermore, under the current criminal code, punishment for being a “thief-in-law” was increased from 7-10 years imprisonment to 10-15 years.

For membership of an organized criminal group, the punishment is a term of seven to ten years instead of the previous 5-8 years.

By Thea Morrison