Court sends 2 to pre-trial detention for bribing, coercing late Isani district election commission head

Tbilisi City Court has sent Akaki Khuskivadze and Akaki Kobaladze to pre-trial detention for bribing and coercing the late head of Isani No.5 district Election Commission Tevdore Gobejishvili.

On November 6 the two individuals in the name of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party, offered the late Gobejishvili a bribe of $50,000 to step down from his position and make a statement about the supposedly rigged elections”, reads an official statement released by the Tbilisi City Court.

The court says that Khuskivadze and Kobaladze threatened Gobejishvili with imprisonment and physical abuse of his family members if he refused to make the statement.

• Police detain 2 for coercion, offering bribe to district election commission head

Law enforcers detained Khuskivadze and Kobaladze after Tevdore Gobejishvili was found dead in his apartment on November 7.

The pre-trial session on the case will be held on December 30.

After Gobejishvili was found dead in his home, the ruling Georgian Dream party member Giorgi Khelashvili stated at a news briefing that  Gobejishvili was threatened by opposition UNM supporters and urged for an investigation into the case.

Denying the allegations, UNM member Zaal Udumashvili said the detained individuals are ‘political hostages’ and that the Georgian Dream should not be using ‘human tragedies’ for its own political purposes.