European Court rules Georgia must pay €50,000 to family of man killed under previous gov’t
The European Court of Human Rights’ verdict was announced earlier today in the Vazagashvili case. Photo: reportiori.
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The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled today that Georgia must pay €50,000 to the family of Zurab Vazagashvili, who was shot and killed by police under the United National Movement leadership back in 2006.
The court said that the right to life was violated and the investigation was delayed and ineffective.
- Read the verdict here.
The Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office opened the case in February 2015, which resulted in the arrest of 11 former police officers.
The ex-officials allegedly conducted premeditated murder motivated by revenge of Zurab Vazagashvili and Aleksandre Khubulow,” the Prosecutor’s Office stated then.
Before the case was opened, Vazagashvili’s father Yuri Vazagashvili was killed by an alleged bomb detonation while visiting his son’s grave in their native village in January 2015.
- Vazagashvili and Khubulov were shot killed by a police special purpose unit while the pair were driving in a car in central Tbilisi on May 2, 2006.
- Police assured they responded with fire only after shots were fired from the men's vehicle.
- But families of the two young men and their lawyers challenged the official version.
- Authorities closed the investigation into allegations that police used excessive force for lack of evidence in April, 2007.
- After the change of government in 2012, Georgian Dream Coalition lawmakers said new evidence had emerged after the family of Vazagashvili and its lawyers obtained alternative ballistic examination results, reportedly showing that no shots were fired from inside the car.
- The Vazagashvili family addressed the ECHR in 2007.
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The Georgian government will pay €50,000 compensation to the family of Zurab Vazagashvili, the man who was shot and killed under United National Movement (UNM) leadership in 2006, “much earlier” than demanded by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Georgian Justice Minister Tea Tsulukiani said.
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The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday rejected the claims of former law enforcement officials of the United National Movement Government on “unfair” domestic trials related to the high-profile murder case of Zurab Vazagashvili and Aleksandre Khubulov in 2006.