Prosecutor’s Office prepares to exhume late PM’s body
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The Chief Prosecutor’s Office has decided to exhume the body of late Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania to establish the real cause of his death.
The body of Deputy Governor of Kvemo Kartli region Raul Usupov, who was found dead alongside the late PM in 2005, will also be exhumed.
Prosecutor’s Office representatives said they did not yet know the exact date of the exhumation but negotiations with "authoritative” international experts were in progress.
"The [pre-exhumation] examinations are being carried out and the decision on when the exhumation will take place will be made in accordance with the conclusions of these examinations,” Prosecutor Revaz Nadoi said today.
The family of the late PM cooperated with the investigation and said they would agree to the exhumation of their loved one only if it was considered "necessary” by investigators.
Gogla Zhvania, the late PM’s brother, said his family had detailed information about how the investigation was progressing.
Meanwhile, Tbilisi City Court resumed hearings on the cases of former officials Mikheil Dzadzamia and Koba Kharshiladze, who were arrested in connection with the death of Zhvania.
The two men were the late PM’s security guard shift managers and were charged with negligence due to their "careless attitude towards their work, which inadvertently caused the death of Zhvania”, the Prosecutor’s Office said.
The Office stated in order to ensure the safety of Zhvania and his family, an obligatory security plan had been developed where the PM’s security guards had to protect the leader at all times and not abandon their role. Despite this, on the night of February 2, 2005, Dzadzamia and Kharshiladze improperly fulfilled their duties and abandoned their post, which left the PM without any protection. Early the following morning Zhvania was found dead.
The bodies of Zhvania and Usupov were found in a rented apartment in the early morning of February 3, 2005. The official cause of the men’s deaths has not been determined but officials believed the men died from carbon monoxide poisoning from a poorly ventilated gas heater.
Meanwhile on March 19, 2013, graphic and disturbing images of the dead bodies of Zhvania and Usupov were leaked on the internet. A one-minute photo collage of 12 images titled "Saakashvili killed Mr. Zurab Zhvania” was uploaded by a user named Hakim Pasha. The montage contained still photos of the bodies that identified a number of possible injuries that could be relevant to the men’s deaths.
Today, investigators announced they found out the video had been uploaded from somewhere in Turkey but they did not know who was responsible for uploading it.
Meanwhile at today’s hearing the defendant’s side said they wanted the controversial video removed from the case file. Furthermore, the Prosecutor’s Office asked the Court to remove several members of ex-ruling United National Movement party from the list of witnesses as their testimonies were not relevant to the case.
The Court has not made a decision on the parties’ requests. The hearing was scheduled to continue from 4pm tomorrow.
Ex-PM Zhvania was one of the main contributors of the 2003 Rose Revolution and an ally of ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili.
Today Georgia’s Chief Prosecutor’s Office arrested Dzadzamia, who was the late PM’s security guard shift manager, on the basis of working negligence that caused human death.
A forensic expert who took part in the process of reviewing the bodies of Georgia’s late Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and Deputy Governor of Kvemo Kartli region Raul Usupov has been arrested.
The bodies of two former Georgian officials who died in unknown circumstances nine years ago will be exhumed as the Prosecutor’s Office believes the previous examinations were "incomplete”.
We do not know who released the graphic photos of Zurab Zhvania and Raul Usupov, said Georgia’s Minister of Interior Affairs Alexander Chikaidze before entering today’s Government meeting.
After graphic and disturbing images showing the dead body of the late PM Zurab Zhvania leaked on the internet overnight, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has revealed the investigation into the death of the late PM is almost finished.
Graphic and disturbing images showing the dead bodies of two former Georgian officials has been leaked on the internet, with the family of one victim claiming the images are "genuine”.
The body of one of Georgia’s leading Prime Ministers, who died in unknown circumstances, could be exhumed.
A former business leader serving a life sentence in prison has been questioned about the death of Georgia’s former Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania.
United National Movement is demanding the creation of an independent group to oversee the investigation into the death of late Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania.
The wife of late Prime Minister of Georgia Zurab Zhviania has confirmed her conversation with ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili where she was requested to stay away from the investigation into her husband’s death.
The wife of the late Prime Minister of Georgia Zurab Zhviania says ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili is lying about a conversation between the pair when he was interviewed on television last night.
Georgia’s Prime Minister believes members of the United National Movement party are using the FBI to rouse speculation following a visit of American investigators after the death of Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania.
A jury panel will decide the fate of the two security guards of late Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, who were charged in relation to the leader’s unexplained death.
"I cannot name the exact date but I am sure the investigation will be finished soon. As for the exhumation, the decision has not been made yet. There is only general discussion but both Georgian and foreign experts should be involved,” said Giorgi Zhvania.
Muslim religious officials (Mullahs) from the native village of the late Deputy Governor of Georgia’s Kvemo Kartli region Raul Usupov, who was found dead alongside late Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania in 2005, have revealed new details about the men’s death at today’s trial.
The family of late Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania argues forensic medical expert Levan Chachua, who performed an autopsy on Zhvania’s body in 2005, did not fully mention "obvious physical injuries” in his autopsy report.
The Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia has brought charges against ex-Chief Prosecutor and a top former official of the country’s National Forensics Bureau in connection with the 2005 death of former Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania.