The prosecutor's office charged Zurab Okmelashvili and Koba Menabdishvili with the attempted murder of the former mayor of Dmanisi, Giorgi Tatuashvili. The General Prosecutor's Office tells Georgian News that both defendants are in hiding.
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‘‘The investigation by the Ministry of Internal Affairs established that the defendants, due to a past grudge, chased the victim’s car headed to Dmanisi and took several shots with the intent to kill.
Since the defendants are still at large, they were charged in absentia under Article 19,109, subsection ‘‘I’’ of the Criminal Code of Georgia (attempted murder, committed as a group) and Article 236, parts 3, 4, 5 (illegal purchase and carrying of firearms), which carry a sentence of 16 to 20 years of imprisonment,’’ says the statement of the prosecutor's office.
The prosecution is requesting the imprisonment of the defendants as a punitive measure.
The former mayor of Dmanisi was ambushed on November 1 in the village of Didi Dmanisi. While traveling from Tbilisi to Dmanisi, Griogi Tatuashvili’s car was shot five times. Tatuashvili said one bullet got lodged in the driver’s seat. He linked the attack to his political activities and immediately named the attackers. ‘‘They are Zurab Okmelashvili and Koba Menabdishvili, goons tied with Georgian Dream, who the ruling party uses to intimidate people during elections,’’ said Tatuashvili. The perpetrators were recorded by a dashcam installed in Tatuashvili’s car.
According to him, Okmelashvili and Menabdishvili operate with impunity under the umbrella of the State Security Service. Charges of violence have been brought against them many times, but they were never arrested.
Giorgi Tatuashvili was elected the mayor of Dmanisi municipality in 2017. In 2020, Georgian Dream expelled him from the party citing his ‘‘support for the election campaign of a rival candidate’’ as the reason. In 2021, Tatuashvili ran in the self-governance elections as a candidate from the National Movement, but the Georgian Dream candidate Koba Muradashvili beat him by 4,16%.
