Opposition Favorite Giorgi Rurua Blamed in Criminal Past

Giorgi Rurua, the founder and shareholder of Mtavari Arkhi TV, who was arrested for illegal possession and carrying of a firearm on November 18, 2019, is now being severely criticized by his old contacts.

Giorgi is the brother of Nikoloz Rurua, the Minister of Culture during the time of Mikheil Saakashvili’s government, who passed away in 2018.

Maia Vephkhvadze, sister of the unofficial military organization ‘Mkhedrioni’ member Zaza Vephkhvadze, who was killed in 1993, published a post against Giorgi Rurua on social media, blaming him for the murder of her 19-year-old son and his brother Zaza.

Her Facebook post reads that Rurua was the leader of the criminal group ‘Veris Sadzmo’ (Vera is a district in Tbilisi) supported by Jaba Ioseliani, founder of the criminal military organization ‘Mkhedrioni’.

“He, with the support of his criminal friends, has to take responsibility for several murders,” Vephkhavdze claims.

Tamar Toradze, sister of the ‘Toradze Brothers’, killed in 1992 along with seven family members, is demanding Rurua disclose the address of her two brothers, Zaza and Paata, who survived an anti-crime operation, yet disappeared.

It’s not the first time Toradze has blamed Rurua for the murder of her seven family members. She even wrote a book about his family history with all the details of a criminal operation organized and managed by him against her family in March 1992.

Georgian opposition claims Rurua is a political prisoner, and demand his release from prison as soon as possible.        

The Ministry of Internal Affairs says illegal possession and carrying of a firearm is punishable by a fine or imprisonment for up to three years.

Giorgi Rurua denies all charges against him.