‘‘My brother visited our parent’s grave. He lit a candle and then decided to go up to Lomisi Church. As he was coming back down, they riddled him from behind. He was shot twice. He was already dead when they brought him down,’’ the brother of Tamaz Ginturi, who was killed by Russian occupying forces in Kirbali Village, told journalists.
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According to him, Tamaz Ginturi was a major and did in fact fight in the Russo-Georgian War.
‘‘As far as I know, they were looking for him and finally caught him. There were 9 people, so how could the two of them cope with 9? You can’t fight off 9 armed men with bare hands’’ says Nikoloz Ginturi.
The murder took place yesterday, November 6. 33-year-old Levan Dotiashvili from the same village, who was with Tamaz Ginturi at the time, was kidnapped by the Russian forces. Dotiashvili is kept in the Tskhinvali detention center.
According to the locals in Kirbali, the Russian military was not allowing anyone near the wounded Tamaz Ginturi. Levan Dotiashvili was made to call the ambulance with the deceased’s phone, but Tamaz Ginturi succumbed to his injuries before the crew arrived.
By the end of the day, a TV channel in the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali released a video showing Tamaz Ginturi and Levan Dotiashvili prying open a nailed-up door of the church.
The central government of Georgia demanded yesterday the representatives of the occupation forces to hand over the kidnapped Levan Dotiashvili and to punish those responsible for the murder of Tamaz Ginturi.
According to the so-called security service of the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali, Ginturi and Dotiashvili resisted arrest by the border guards, which threatened the life and health of the border guards. ‘‘The border trespassers used an axe. They later tried to ram the border guard with a car and then leave for Georgia. To prevent these illegal actions and to prevent the illegal crossing of the state border of the Republic of South Ossetia, the border guards fired a warning shot in the air, and after the violators failed to obey the legal requests, they opened fire on the tires of their car. One of the violators was severely wounded and was transferred to the Georgian side for emergency medical care, while the other was arrested,’’ says the statement.
President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili arrived in the village of Kirbali today and offered her condolences to the family of the deceased. The president made no additional comments, although she said yesterday that ‘‘this yet another brutal attack on Georgian statehood once again exposes the true face of the ‘‘brother in faith.’’ An interim conclusion of the European Union will be issued on November 8, which is not a final conclusion, but important nevertheless. We were planning a huge event and a big concert at 8 o'clock, but since Russia tried to meddle with our national agenda again, we no longer think a concert is appropriate, so we are changing the face of the event, but not the essence. We will gather, proclaim once again that Russia is not our future, and send a strong message to Europe,’’ said Zourabichvili.
First Vice-Speaker of the Parliament Gia Volski from Georgian Dream addressed the President's statement. According to him, Georgia does not deserve a group of politicians ‘‘happy with the death of a person,’’ including Salome Zourabichvili.
‘‘Saakashvili, Levan Khabeishvili, and Salome Zourabichvili are one and the same. Of course, people should come out, hold a gathering, and express their position, but Georgia does not deserve a group of politicians who are so happy with the death of a person, including Salome Zourabichvili,’’ said Volski.
