The charges of five passengers of Toyota Camry - Vakhtang Chikovani, Archil Gagnidze, Nikoloz Revazishvili, and two minors in the case of the deceased football player Giorgi Shakarashvili got aggravated. It was announced at a briefing at the Prosecutor General's Office.
They are charged with premeditated murder under aggravating circumstances. The offense carries a maximum sentence of 13 to 17 years in prison.
"Based on the evidence obtained as a result of a joint investigation conducted by the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it was established that the quarrel between the guests at a birthday party at a country house in Mtskheta on June 18, 2020, at about 23:00, turned into a physical confrontation. During the party, V.Ch. was beaten and injured.
V.Ch., who considered himself victim in the conflict, returned to Tbilisi, Nadzaladevi district, to mobilize additional physical force for revenge on the opposing side. The friends of V.Ch. remained at the party and periodically provided information about the location of the opposing party.
Upon his return to Tbilisi, V.Ch. got in touch with his friends, and at around 00:30 on June 19, they drove in the direction of Mtskheta in Mercedes and Toyota Camry cars owned by V.Ch.
Due to the physical confrontation, most of the guests at the birthday party left the villa. Among them was Giorgi Shakarashvili, who, along with other people at the party, walked towards Tbilisi. They were followed and watched by the two friends of V.Ch. According to them, the people who came to Mtskheta from Nadzaladevi district in a Mercedes car followed Giorgi Shakarashvili and the people walking on the highway with him.
At around 00:47, on the territory of the car wash near the Aragvi Bridge, persons in a Mercedes car attacked Giorgi Shakarashvili and his entourage. The attackers were also joined by V.Ch.'s two friends. People who got out of the vehicle physically assaulted people with Giorgi Shakarashvili and Giorgi Shakarashvili escaped the violence by running. The physical violence lasted for several minutes, after which the attackers left the scene.
At the same time, the persons in a Toyota car with V.Ch. went to the country house to find the representatives of the opposing party involved in the conflict. Since none of the opponents were present at the place, the Toyota headed in the direction of Tbilisi.
Giorgi Shakarashvili and his accomplices, continued on their way to Tbilisi when they were stopped by a Toyota car belonging to V.Ch., which was driven by his friend V.M. Upon stopping, V.M., N.R., A.G., Z.Kh., A.K. got out of the car together with V.Ch. and chased Giorgi Shakarashvili and his entourage, at the same time verbally abusing them. In order to escape the impending violence, Giorgi Shakarashvili and his entourage fled west on the highway to the Aragvi Bridge, crossed the Aragvi Bridge, crossed the road, and continued jogging west. Giorgi Shakarashvili's accomplice G.K., who was beaten, hid in ruins.
At the same time, the attackers crossed the road, crossed to the other side, and continued to pursue Giorgi Shakarashvili and the people accompanying him. Giorgi Shakarashvili and his companion V.A. continued jogging on the right side of the road on the secondary road under the bridge, while Giorgi Shakarashvili's friend G.A. ran in the direction of the colored building and hid in the bushes behind it. Giorgi Shakarashvili and V.A. were pursued in the same direction by V.Ch., A.K., Z.Kh., while A. G. and N.R., who were on the east side of the road, continued jogging on the secondary road on the left side of the road in order to meet those who ran away on the same road and block it for them. V.A. while jogging on the secondary road, hid in the bushes, while Giorgi Shakarashvili continued to move. When Giorgi Shakarashvili approached the section of the secondary road that passes between the towers of the Aragvi Bridge, he was blocked from the opposite direction by A. G. and N.R.
During the escape, Giorgi Shakarashvili was attacked from both sides, which deprived him of the opportunity to move freely and forced him to enter the ravine on the left side of the road, where he was followed by all five attackers. At the end of the trail in the ravine, Giorgi Shakarashvili came to the bank of the river Aragvi, and because he did not know how to swim, he could not escape. The attackers took advantage of this situation and inflicted injuries on Giorgi Shakarashvili in the area of his head, both eyeballs, upper and lower lips, around the right elbow joint and right forearm, as well as in the abdomen, groin, buttocks, waist, and both buttocks. Severely beaten, Giorgi Shakarashvili was thrown into the river Aragvi by the attackers, as a result of which the latter died.
The examination revealed that the injuries on Giorgi Shakarashvili's body were developed under the influence of some dense-blunt traumatic objects, such as a stick-like object, leg, stone, fist.
In addition, complex expert studies are being actively pursued to determine the issues raised by the investigation.
All five assailants were prosecuted for committing the crime under Article 109, Part 2, Subparagraph E of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which envisages 13 to 17 years of imprisonment.
The investigation established that in connection with the conflict over the birthday party, a total of 8 vehicles left Tbilisi for Mtskheta on the night of June 19, three of them from Saburtalo district and five from Nadzaladevi district. As a result of the video recordings obtained from the investigation and the information requested from the mobile operators, it is unequivocally established that a Toyota car was present at the scene of Giorgi Shakarashvili's premeditated murder and his passengers were involved in the crime. During the investigation of Giorgi Shakarashvili's case, more than a thousand procedural actions.
We want to remind the public that in addition to the five persons charged, 12 persons have been arrested on charges of gang violence, organizing and participating in the same violence, as well as illegal deprivation of liberty. The charges against them are punishable by four to ten years in prison," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
The family applied to the Ministry of Internal Affairs on June 19 about the loss of Giorgi Shakarashvili.
After four days of non-stop efforts, divers found young Shakarashvili's body in the river Aragvi.
The investigation was launched, with the sportsmen involved in the case being already questioned.
The MIA detained 17 people over the young footballer's death. They face the charges of group violence, illegal deprivation of liberty, and subjecting two or more individuals to physical abuse.
On July 10, the Prosecutor General's Office released an expert report stating that Giorgi Shakarashvili's cause of death was asphyxiation by drowning.
The report also states that bodily injuries have been inflicted in his lifetime.
The investigation into the death of Giorgi Shakarashvili continues under the article of premeditated murder committed under aggravated circumstances.
