Another Murder with Participation of Border Police Officers in Svaneti

The law enforcement officers arrested two persons. 23-year-old Giorgi Tsindeliani, who is an employee at the Border Police Mestia Division, is charged with the intentional murder of Guram Afrasidze. The second arrested person is the father of the murdered Guram Afrasidze, 70-year-old Roland Afrasidze. The prosecutor’s office accuses him of the intentional murder of Giorgi Pakeliani and intentional serious injury to the health of his brother, Roland Pakeliani.

According to the prosecutor's office, due to past disagreements border police officers Giorgi Tsindeliani and Giorgi Pakelian had a physical confrontation with father and son Roland and Guram Afrasidze in the village of Etseri .

According to the indictment, during the conflict, Giorgi Tsindeliani shot Guram Afrasidze several times from the firearm he had with him, who died as a result of the injuries he received. At the same time, Roland Afrasidze shot Giorgi Pakeliani and his brother, Roland Pakeliani several times from the firearm he had with him, as a result of which Giorgi Pakeliani died on the spot, and Roland Pakeliani received life-threatening injuries.

Zugdidi District Court sentenced both detainees to prison as a preventive measure. As an answer to the judge's question of whether he recognizes himself as guilty, Roland Afrasidze said that he has not done anything wrong. His lawyer, Revaz Mikaia, says that Roland Afrasidze did not have a firearm with him.

“As my defendant explains, his son was beaten and his health was damaged. About two hours after, the members of Pakeliani's family came to the gate of his residence, shot, and cursed. Conflict arose from that. This evidence does not prove the fact that Roland Afrasidze committed either intentional murder or serious injury to someone's body,” noted the lawyer.

According to the lawyer of the second accused, Soso Janashia, Giorgi Tsindeliani witnessed this confrontation by chance. “It turns out that in the past there was some disagreement and controversy between the families of Pakeliani and Afrasidze. Tsindelian witnessed this confrontation that day completely by chance, and his function was to pull the fight participants apart. He did not know the Afrasidzes at all and naturally, he would not have any confrontation with them. He did not touch the weapon. The basis for Tsindeliani's arrest was the testimony of a witness from the Afrasidze family.”

As for the disagreement between the Afrasidzes and the Pakelians in the past - according to the residents of Etseri, Guram Afrasidze wanted to marry the sister of Giorgi and Roland Pakeliani, but they refused. In order to prevent the deepening of the conflict, members of the Pakeliani family, Giorgi, and his sister, temporarily left Svaneti and moved to Kakheti, where Giorgi's sister got married. A few years ago, the father, who came to visit his daughter from Svaneti, was hit by a bullet fired by his son-in-law's relative and died. After that, the Pakeliani siblings returned to live in Svaneti.

According to locals, on January 1, Giorgi Pakeliani was returning home from Nakra, where the N5 sector of the Border Police is located, to Etseri. He was traveling with his colleague, Giorgi Tsindeliani, in his own car. They stopped at the house of Afrasidze's relative in Etseri, where they were celebrating the New Year. While there, a confrontation took place between Giorgi Pakeliani and Guram Afrasidze, during which they were pulled apart. That same night, after a while, Guram Afrasidze and Giorgi Pakeliani met again and the murder took place.

“Guram Afrasidze was obsessed with my girl. There was so much trouble here and there. It all comes from there. It has been going on for years. We sent the girl from here so that her brothers did not find out. I have three boys. After a while, his brothers heard about this issue. When I arrived, my younger boy who is wounded, had his brother in his hands and was asking for help,” recalls the mother of the murdered Giorgi Pakeliani.

According to locals, the families of Afrasidze and Pakeliani are related to each other.

The murdered Guram Afrasidze was buried in Etseri today, and Giorgi Pakeliani will be buried on Sunday.

If found guilty, Roland Afrasidze and Giorgi Tsindelian will face 10 to 15 years of imprisonment. The pre-trial session will be held on February 27.

This is not the first case of murder in Svaneti recently, with the participation of border police officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

On April 20, 2020, Besik Naveriani, a border guard of the N2 sector of Mulakhi border police, shot and killed 36-year-old Besik Ioseliani, an employee of the same sector, due to a mutual dispute. Both of them were on duty and had firearms. Ioseliani was drunk. After the murder, Naveriani fled from the scene. The accused surrendered to the police a few days after the murder. The person who was killed and the person who committed the crime were friends and relatives.

On March 13, 2015, Kakha Margiani, an operative of the Border Police Mestia Division, killed the former chief, Giorgi Ratiani. According to the prosecutor's office, Giorgi Ratiani and Zaza Japaridze were guests at Kakha Margiani's residence. Margiani had an argument with the guests, which soon turned into a fight. Kakha Margiani, Giorgi Ratiani, and Zaza Japaridze parted after the fight. In a few minutes, Kakha Margiani took a firearm and fired several shots in the direction of Giorgi Ratiani and Zaza Japaridze who were walking on Tamar Mepe Street. Giorgi Ratiani died on the spot, and Zaza Japaridze was wounded in his back.