Former PM Zhvania’s Death Still a Mystery 10 Years On
The death of former Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania has been a controversial subject for Georgian society for several years. The current government promised a full investigation of the case prior to the 2012 elections, with many claiming that Zhvania’s death was not accidental and alleging that the United National Movement, then in power, had been involved.
The Georgian prosecutor’s office has accused two members of Zhvania’s former private guard of neglecting their duties to protect the former PM, who was found dead in a private apartment on February 2, 2005. “I am a prosecutor and embarrassing topics do not exist for me. The defendants violated the law, official regulations, internal regulations and security requirements. The General Inspection delivered a report that Kharshiladze and Dzadzamia did not perform their duties in a proper way,” Revaz Nadoi, the Georgian prosecutor commented.
“We have heard that the accused are going to break their silence and tell truth in court. They have changed their evidence five times. The word of a man, who has changed his evidence five times, is worthless. They are guilty and must be punished,” Nadoi underlined.
The former PM Zhvania according to the prosecutor’s office was taken to an unknown place and Kharshiladze and Dzadzamia (private guards) were obligated to provide Zhvania with security but did not. According to Nadoi “in fact, they abandoned him”.
“All this resulted in a terrible incident. The PM died under vague circumstances; this means Kharshiladze and Dzadzamia did not fulfill their obligations properly and must be held accountable. They violated the special service of state security protocol, according to which they were committed to provide security to a high-ranking official,” declared the prosecutor in the courtroom.
Kharshiladze, the head of Zhvania’s private guards says: “February 2, 2005 was a normal working day. I went to work and then back home. Dzadzamia called me at about 03:30 saying something was wrong. I went to the Saburtalo district from Gldani, it took 10 minutes”.
When I got to the flat, the door was locked, so I entered through a window. Zura was sitting in an armchair. We checked his pulse and then performed CPR on his lifeless body. No signs of violence were visible at the scene,” Kharshiladze recalls.
“The situation was like this: Usupov (Governor of Kvemo Kartli Region, who died along with Zhvania), and Zhvania were naked. We dressed and cleaned the bodies, as any other person would do. Then we took Usupov’s body to the car but then realized it would be absurd for Zura to be found in a strange flat in such a condition, so we took Usupov’s body back to the flat. I had already called Baramidze (Interior minister that time), after which I phoned the President. When law enforcers came the public became aware of the situation. I had no intentions of saying these words publicly, let Zura’s soul forgive me,” Koba Kharshiladze said.
Zhvania’s widow says the suspects are lying: “The apartment was not supplied with natural gas at 3:00 AM. They are simply rambling, saying Dzadzamia called Kharshiladze.”
The former PM’s brother Gogla Zhvania also accuses the ex-government in covering the ‘authentic facts’.
Zhvania’s death remains a cloudy chapter in Georgia’s recent history and it may still be some time before a universally accepted version of events materializes.
Steven Jones