Georgian Supreme Court upholds guilty verdict against ex-Minister Akhalaia for torturing a colonel
Former Defence Minister Bacho Akhalaia says that he is a “political prisoner.” Photo: mpress.ge.
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Georgian Supreme Court has upheld a guilty verdict against former Defence Minister of Georgia Bacho Akhalia for torture, causing death of colonel Sergo Tetradze back in 2011, under the United National Movement government.
Tbilisi City Court sent Akhalia to prison for nine years in April 2018, which was appealed two times by the defendant - in the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.
Tbilisi City Court also sentenced Deputy Minister of Defence Nikoloz Dzimtseishvili for four years in prison for the same case last year and the Supreme Court also upheld the verdict.
Tetradze was detained for espionage charges in 2011.
Georgia’s Chief Prosecutor’s Office says that with the demand of Akhalaia the individual was severely tortured which caused death.
Tetradze’s wife says that Akhalia deserves “tougher punishment.”
Akhalaia does not admit to the crime.
The Tbilisi City Court has sent Georgia’s former Minister of Defence under the United National Movement leadership, Bacho Akhalaia, to prison for nine years for a high-profile torture case involving Colonel Sergo Tetradze in 2011.
Today Tbilisi City Court sentenced two former top police officials of the United National Movement government to 9-12 years behind bars for exceeding official powers, murder and fabricating evidence in a notorious case that claimed three lives in 2006.
Former Interior Minister Bacho Akhalaia and senior Ministryofficial Megis Kardava face new charges related to torture and abuse of authority.
Tbilisi City Court has today sentenced Georgia’s former Interior Minister Bachana (Bacho) Akhalaia to seven years and six months in prison. Akhalaia previously served as the country's Defence Minister and head of Penitentiary Department of the Justice Ministry.