Khazaradze’s Lawyer on Examination of 'Gakharia's Letter'

The lawyer of Co-founder of JSC TBC Bank, Mamuka Khazarade, talked about the results of examination received from London, in connection with the letter he claims to be written by former Interior Minister and the current Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Gakharia, which “contains threats and is aimed at blackmailing Khazaradze”.

Previously, Khazaradze himself claimed that the examination of letter ended with serious results and expressed hope that the Prosecutor's Office would launch an investigation into the case.

"The first examination ended with some serious results. The lawyers will talk about it later. The examinations continue and accordingly, we hope that the Prosecutor's Office will launch a case soon. They had grounds to do so in February, but they did not do it”, he said.

Today, the lawyer Zviad Kordzadze said that according to the results of examination received from London, there are several fingerprints discovered on the letter.

“After the examination which was carried out in England, we received a disc, which contains the results of the examination, showing that dozens of fingerprints were found on the letter, - he stated at the meeting with the ‘’NGO Coalition.”

The lawyer will present the results of the examination to the Prosecutor's Office for further investigation. 

However, he also noted that at this stage it is impossible to reveal whose fingerprints are found on the letter, as England does not have a Georgian citizenship database.

“We will present this disc to the prosecutor's office. There are dozens of fingerprints on it. The rest is the job of the investigation, to identify the owners of these prints and then question these individuals to reveal how their fingerprint appeared on the letter. We do not expect anything further from the UK as an expert at this stage. Linguistic and other forensic examinations are underway, but that does not prevent us from presenting the disc to the Prosecutor's Office. As England does not have a Georgian citizenship database, it is impossible to identify the owners of these fingerprints at this stage”, he added.  

Previously, Kordzadze stated that they already have enough materials to address the European Court of Human Rights regarding Khazaradze-Japaridze case. He also added that two foreign qualified and reputable lawyers are involved in the case, who will work with him in various areas and protect the interests of Khazaradze and Japaridze abroad. 

"The case against Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze went beyond outside the jurisdiction of Georgia. The prosecution has already filed several petitions with the UK in this regard.

At the same time, we have already materials in the case by which we may apply to Strasbourg. That's why we involved two very experienced and qualified lawyers in the case.”

The Prosecutor’s Office officially charged Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze on July 24 for money laundering, having launched an investigation into the fact on 2 August 2018.

“Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze are charged for the laundering of $16,754.000, as a result of which they received a large amount of income,” said the Prosecutor General's Office.

The Tbilisi City Court ordered 700,000 GEL bail from each of them on July 26.

"Co-founders of JSC TBC Bank, Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, paid the bail ordered on them by Tbilisi City Court – 700,000 GEL each," announced Khazaradze’s lawyer.

Related Story: Khazaradze: Examination of 'Gakharia's Letter' Ended with Serious Results

By Ana Dumbadze