‘Motive identified’ in Georgia-Azerbaijan ‘land forfeit’ case
The prosecution says that detainees in the high-profile border case acted per the demands of their superiors. Photo: Mtavari Arkhi.
Tweet 
Share
The prosecution says that a motive has been identified in the high-profile Georgia-Azerbaijan border case, which saw two former officials detained last year for allegedly withholding materials from a border agreement with Azerbaijan under the United National Movement government in 2006-2007.
Prosecutors said earlier today that former officials Iveri Melashvili and Natalia Ilichova ‘acted deliberately, per the demands of their superiors.’
Prosecutors have not identified the superiors, but said that they have ‘audio-video materials proving the motive.’
They said that details will be released in the coming days.
Melashvili and Ilichova were detained last year and have been accused of withholding materials from a border agreement with Azerbaijan that, according to the Chief Prosecutor’s Office, led to the forfeit of about 3,500 hectares of lands against Georgia’s interests.
The case also concerns the sections of Georgia's 6th century David Gareji monastery complex. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
None of the detainees admit to the crime and say that the maps were ‘worthless’ and were rejected in 2006-2007.
Melashvili and Ilichova have been denied bail.
Their next trial date is scheduled for January 28.
An official statement of the Chief Prosecutor’s Office says that Melashvili, the former head of the Department for Border Relations with Neighbouring Countries and Ilichova, former Chief Inspector of the Land Border Protection Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, hid the original map of 1938 from the border commission members (which was chaired by Melashvili) and instead used a 1970-80 map in the process of demarcating the border.
Since the collapse of Soviet Union back in 1991, out of its four neighboring states Georgia has agreed upon its borders only with Turkey.
Only two-thirds of the state border has been agreed upon with Azerbaijan so far, which on several occasions triggered tension in David Gareji back in 2019.
Two former officials in the high-profile Georgia-Azerbaijan border case, Iveri Melashvili and Natalia Ilichova, have been denied bail earlier today by Tbilisi City Court despite the presence of 214 guarantors, including politicians. Melashvili and Ilichova have been accused of withholding materials from a border agreement with Azerbaijan that, according to the Chief Prosecutor’s Office, led to the forfeit of about 3,500 hectares of lands against Georgia’s interests.
Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Lasha Darsalia says that Azerbaijan has provided no arguments against the 1938 map which was recently obtained by Georgia to resolve border issues between the two states.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili says that Georgia-Azerbaijan made no border agreement when she served as Georgia's foreign minister between 2004 and 2005, under the United National Movement leadership.
Two former members working on a state commission charged with demarcating Georgia’s border with Azerbaijan have been detained earlier today by the country’s Chief Prosecutor’s Office. The Prosecutor’s Office claims that the detainees hid an original map issued in 1937-38 and instead used other maps based on which the border sections between the two countries were agreed ‘against the interests of Georgia and history.’ The detainees are the head of the department for border relations with neighbouring countries of the Ministry of Foreigh Affairs of Georgia Iveri Melashvili and a senior inspector in the border protection department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Natalia Ilichova.
The Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office has released a surveillance video earlier today and said that one of the detainees in the high-profile Georgia-Azerbaijan border case Iveri Melashvili was forced to sign a border agreement in 2006 under the previous United National Movement government, which led to the forfeit of 3,500 hectares of lands against Georgia’s interests.
Two detainees in the Georgia-Azerbaijan ‘land forfeit’ high-profile case Iveri Melashvili and Natalia Ilichova have been released on 20,000 GEL bail each earlier today. The Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office requested the bail, stating that there was no need for pretrial detention. Melashvili and Ilichova will not be able to leave the country before the court delivers a verdict in the case.
Two suspects in the Georgia-Azerbaijan ‘land forfeit’ case - Iveri Melasvhili and Natalia Ilichova - have appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. The Georgian Democracy Initiative announced earlier today that the applicants complain for the violations of several articles of the European Convention of Human Rights.
Police are investigating an attack on a suspect in the Georgia-Azerbaijan ‘land forfeit’ case Iveri Melasvhili and the crew of opposition-minded Mtavari Arkhi TV which occurred earlier today in David Gareji.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the candidate for the position of the Prime Minister of Georgia, on Wednesday said the case of the disputed area of the David Gareji monastery complex “could only be resolved” through dialogues with a strategic partner - Azerbaijan.