Former Georgian defense chief acquitted in one case
By Nazrin Gadimova
A court in the Georgian capital Tbilisi dropped the charges of inhumane treatment and unlawful imprisonment against former Georgian Defense Minister Bacho Akhalaia on August 1.
The other defendants under this case, including former Chief of Joint Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces Giorgi Kalandadze and Fourth Brigade commander of the Defense Ministry Zurab Shamatava, were acquitted.
The charge is related to an incident that occurred in October 2011, when, according to the prosecutors, Minister Bacho Akhalaia, in the presence of Giorgi Kalandadze and Zurab Shamatava, reportedly insulted six soldiers verbally and physically in his office. Then the servicemen were transferred to the Vaziani military base where the Georgian Defense Ministry's fourth brigade was based; they are said to have faced abuse there as well.
The Tbilisi City Court cancelled the preliminary detention of Akhalia on one more incident relating to the case, which concerned what was reported as coercion of a citizen to donate an expensive car to the Georgian Ministry of Corrections and Legal Assistance.
Akhalia remains in detention despite the acquittal, because there are also allegations regarding the case of a prison riot in 2006 and abuse of staff of the Georgian Interior Ministry's special forces.
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