“I Sent My Son to Army in Good Health, They Returned Him Dead’” – Suicide in Defense Forces

Mamuka Meladze lived in Kaspi with his wife and two children. He served in the Georgian military for almost 20 years, fought in the August War of 2008, and took part in the Georgian International Military Mission in Afghanistan.

In both cases, the investigation was initiated under part 1 of the Article 115 of the Criminal Code, which covers inciting suicide. The military police give this qualification to such cases, which some of the families of the deceased soldiers do not share.

"My son joined the army recently, he was completely healthy, didn’t have any issues, and they returned him to me dead. What went wrong in that military unit. If he killed himself, it means something drove him to do that. If he was ill, why didn’t they help him?"

The mother of the deceased soldier Yusif Nasibov is demanding answers from the investigation.

"According to preliminary analyses, the deceased shot himself through the chin and was killed instantly," reports the Ministry of Defense.

The Ministry of Defense has never published the exact statistics on cases of suicide in the Georgian Armed Forces. According to various reports, 54 soldiers committed suicide between 1997 and 2002. The highest rate was recorded in 2000 - 16 cases of suicide. Data for 2003-2012 cannot be sourced in public records - Georgian News already requested this data from the Ministry of Defense.

Georgian News gathered cases of death of military servicemen in the years 2012-2021, on which the investigation was initiated under the article of suicide. These data do not fully reflect possible suicide cases.

2012

• 19-year-old Koba Makharashvili was a private of the 51st battalion of the Gori infantry brigade. He died on July 12. The soldier was shot in the mouth. Before that, the sergeant of the military unit beat him for secretly using the phone and threatened that he would make him strip naked in front of the unit. Sergeant, 26-year-old Tengiz Gelashvili was arrested on charges of torture.
• On August 20, 21-year-old Jaba Gabitashvili was found dead in the military unit in Mtskheta.
• On December 5, Jambulat Bliadze, a soldier of the 1st Brigade, died. According to the information from the Ministry of Defense, the soldier killed himself with a shot from a rifle. Bliadze was conscripted into the army a month ago.

2013

• On May 25, 32-year-old private Mamuka Gegechkori, a soldier of the second infantry brigade of the armed forces, died in the military unit of Senaki.
• On August 20, conscript Giorgi Mebonia died at the Alekseevka air base. The incident happened during his shift at the checkpoint guardpost. According to the Ministry, the private killed himself.
• On September 25, 22-year-old Arkadi Imerlishvili, a private of the 20th Brigade, committed suicide in the Telavi military unit.

2014

• On March 3, 22-year-old Imeda Murvanidze, a military serviceman, who was on contract service in the 3rd Infantry Brigade, was found dead. According to the information from the Ministry, he was on leave at his home in Akhaltsikhe for the weekend, and he had to report back to his brigade on the morning of March 4.
• On September 3, 21-year-old Giorgi Asanidze was found wounded by a member of the military unit. Asanidze was shot in the head. He was taken to the hospital, but could not be saved. Giorgi Asanidze has been enlisted for his mandatory military service in the armed forces since 2013.
• On October 2, 19-year-old Davit Bolotauri was found dead at the guardpost by the shift chief of the military unit. He had a bullet wound in his head. Davit Bolotauri has been doing mandatory military service since September 3, 2014
• On December 22, 20-year-old Nikoloz Ugulava was found dead at the guardpost of the military unit. Ugulava has been serving mandatory military service since October 4, 2014.
• On December 28, 24-year-old contract soldier Dato Gelashvili was found dead. He joined the armed forces on December 18, 2012. On the day of his suicide, he was on leave.

2015

• On June 10, 22-year-old Givi Kirkitadze, a soldier of the 1^st Infantry Brigade, was sent from the military unit to the National Training Center Krtsanisi for a training course, where he did not show up. Later, he was found dead in an abandoned building near the training center.
• On June 20, 18-year-old Rati Shamatava, who had been serving mandatory military service and was stationed at the guardpost of the 17th penitentiary institution in Rustavi, committed suicide in his home in the village of Kulev, Khobi region.
• On September 1, 23-year-old Tariel Fanchulidze was found dead in the area of the Norio training base. According to the official report published by the Ministry of Defense, the private killed himself with a shot from a service weapon.
• On October 4, 33-year-old Tamaz Tamarashvili, a private in the anti-aircraft unit, died on the military territory of the 5th Brigade of the Armed Forces in Gori.

2017

• On June 27, 22-year-old Ioseb Inasaridze, a contract worker, was found dead in Osiauri, on the territory of the command base for logistical support of the troops. According to the Ministry of Defense, while on duty, a soldier committed suicide with a gunshot wound to the head. He died immediately after being brought to Khashuri hospital. The family doubted the version of suicide in this case as well.

2018

• On November 14, while on leave in Khobi, 29-year-old contract military serviceman L.B. He was found dead in his home. The investigation was launched for possible suicide.

2019

• On May 12, 25-year-old Vladimer Makhatadze, a soldier of the 31st Battalion of the Third Infantry Brigade of the Ground Forces, was found dead at the Vaziani field training base. Makhatadze has been serving in the Defense Forces since 2017.
• On May 15, 34-year-old Paata Chkhaidze, a contract serviceman of the 10th Brigade of the National Guard, was found dead in a residential apartment under non-service circumstances. According to the Ministry, a firearm was found at the scene of the incident, in the residential house. The investigation was launched for possible suicide.

2021

• On March 3, 20-year-old Joni Dzindzibadze, a contract serviceman, committed suicide on the premises of the Vaziani military base. According to the information from the Ministry, the military serviceman shot himself with his own automatic firearm while on duty in the army, with the intention of committing suicide. The wounded man was taken to the hospital, but he could not be saved. Family members of the deceased did not agree with the version of suicide. In this case too, in the course of the investigation, the Ministry said that the suicide was likely related to family issues. The family members rejected this statement of the Ministry. According to the deceased's brother, Joni Dzintzibadze ‘’finished his mandatory military service and continued his contract service in Vaziani; He participated in various trainings and was going to work in Afghanistan in a few months.’’

2022

• On April 18, 21-year-old Joni Akhalaia was found dead in the territory of the Senaki Infantry Brigade. According to the Ministry of Defense, "the first class private killed himself by firing from his own automatic firearm, which is confirmed by the video surveillance camera recordings at the scene of the incident." The family members did not agree with the version of suicide in this case as well.

Due to the high rate of suicide in the Georgian Armed Forces, the Department of Psychological Support was established in the Ministry of Defense back in 2015. Officials claimed that one of the main causes of suicide in the army was addiction to gambling and debts accumulated from it. At the initiative of the Ministry, changes were made to the law, and gambling was banned for the military. The Department of psychological support in the ministry is still functioning, although no information about its activities can be found on the website of the ministry.