According to the statement of the Prosecutor General of Georgia, Irakli Shotadze, an intense investigation is being conducted into the natural disaster in Shovi.
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‘‘First and foremost, I want to express my sincere condolences to the families of each victim of the tragedy that befell Racha. An investigation is ongoing at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, an investigative group has been assembled, hundreds of civilians have already been questioned, a number of forensic examinations have been scheduled, and the victims and the heirs of the victims were given access to the case materials. They are involved in the investigation and each of their motions or proposals regarding different investigative or procedural actions is being considered. As for the results of the investigation, we will certainly provide the public with detailed and exhaustive information after the investigation is concluded’’, said Shotadze.
Georgian News spoke with the lawyer Nestan Londaridze of the Human Rights Center, who is representing the interests of one of the victims in the case - Davit Maisuradze. Maisuradze's wife and two children were killed in the natural disaster that occurred in Shovi on August 3. According to Londaridze, the prosecutor's office is still not allowing the lawyers to make a copy of the case materials. ‘‘I and another lawyer from our organization sat at the District Prosecutor's Office of West Georgia for three days to review the case materials. Shovi case is more than 40 volumes. It is impossible to rewrite by hand. We appealed the prosecutor's decision to refuse us to make a copy of the case materials, but the superior prosecutor also did not satisfy our request’’, told us Nestan Londaridze.
According to Ana Arganashvili, the lawyer of the family of Davit Beriashvili, who died in Shovi, due to the volume and complexity of the case materials, it is impossible to effectively exercise the right to defense only by reviewing the materials.
On October 2, non-governmental organizations called on the Prosecutor's Office to conduct the investigation with proper qualifications, for the case to be investigated by the General Prosecutor's Office, and to give lawyers proper access to the case materials.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs is investigating the events and the deaths of people in Shovi under Articles 116 and 240 of the Criminal Code, which refer to the negligent killing of a person(s) and violation of safety rules during mining, construction, or other works, respectively. However, it was the Ministry of Internal Affairs that conducted the search & rescue operation on the day, regarding which many questions still linger on the possible abandonment of people in an ordeal.
On August 3, 33 people were killed in Shovi by the landslide, which, according to experts, was triggered by the rock avalanche from the Tbilisa glacier and the overflow of the groundwater. Among those killed, the body of one of the minors has still not been found.
