Gov’t proposes to increase compensation for killed policemen’s families

The Georgian Government will buy an apartment for the family of the police officer who was killed while performing his duties last week.

The family of District Inspector-Investigator Beka Margishvili, murdered in Tbilisi on Saturday, will receive the key to a new home after the deceased policeman’s funeral.

At today’s Governmental meeting Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili proposed that compensation for families of policemen killed on duty be significantly increased so that it matched the amount of compensation offered to the families of wounded or killed military servants.

Garibashvili said relevant legislation had already been prepared and would soon be presented to Parliament.

An earlier decision by former PM Bidzina Ivanishvili saw one-time state compensation for families of Georgian soldiers wounded or killed while fighting to protect the country’s unity increase from 15000 GEL (about $6,700 USD) to 100,000 GEL (about $45,000 USD).

Now the current Government intended to adopt the same approach for the families of police officers killed in the line of duty. Current legislation sees these families receive 15,000 GEL.

Meanwhile, yesterday Georgia’s former ruling party United National Movement (UNM) called on the Government to increase the amount of state compensation for deceased policemen’s families up to 100,000 GEL.

Prime Minister Garibashvili responded and said his Government had already planned to increase the amount of compensation, before UNM made its demand.

In recent years the current Government had improved the conditions of police officers in Georgia, Garibashvili said. Since 2012, some of the advantages enjoyed by police officers included:

• Being offered financial assistance if they got married, had a child or lost a family member. In 2013-14, the state had allocated 7.7 million GEL (about $3.5 million USD) for this purpose.
• The budget for police officers and their family members’ medical treatment almost doubled, and included medical care abroad if needed. This budget reached 6.2 million GEL ($2.8 million USD during the past two years.
• Salaries of patrol-inspectors and border guards increased and policemen with four or more children received an extra monthly allowance. For example, police officers with four children received an additional 250 GEL, officers with five children received 375 GEL and those with six children or more received an extra 500 GEL.

District Inspector-Investigator Margishvili was killed on Saturday, April 4 in the Varketili district of Tbilisi while he was on duty with Assistant Detective Valerian Grdzelishvili. The two police officers stopped a man in order to verify his identity near Varketili Metro Station. Upon hearing the policemen’s order, the man allegedly opened fire in the direction of the police officers and immediately fled the scene.

Both police officers were wounded by the gunshots. Margishvili suffered severe injuries and died after he was transferred to hospital. Grdzelishvili also suffered severe injuries and underwent a difficult surgery. His health condition remains critical, doctors said.

The alleged offender has been named by the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia as Shalva Abuladze.