Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Killing Police Officer

Shalva Abuladze, a man found guilty of the murder of a police officer and the attempted murder of four other police officers, was sentenced to life in prison.

The sentence was given at the court in Akhaltsikhe, Georgia, for the murder of Beka Margishvili and the attempted murder of four others.

Shalva Khachapuridze, Abuladze’s lawyer, believes that his client was not given a fair trial.

Khachapuridze told local news agency Interpressnews that the court’s ruling was “a vendetta” and his client is innocent.

“There are no other examples of sentencing a person to life for murdering one person,” Khachapuridze said.

Shortly after Abuladze’s arrest, it became known that this was not his first time in prison. While serving a seven year sentence for attempted murder and carrying an illegal firearm, he was released by the pardon commission in November, 2013.

Abuladze was arrested on April 10th, 2015 for the murder of Police Officer Beka Margishvili during a special police operation in Borjomi, following a week-long manhunt.

At first, he pleaded guilty, but later withdrew his testimony, stating he had been pressured into pleading guilty.

Photo: Interpresnews