The Georgian Interior Ministry has provided more details to support its claim that TV Pirveli cameraman Lekso Lashkarava, who was beaten severely at the July 5 Tbilisi pride counter rally, died due to a drug overdose.
Head of the Central Criminal Police Mamuka Tchelidze said although the forensic examination is still underway to reveal the exact reason for Lashkarava’s death, the samples taken from the corpse contained several different drugs, including morphine and codeine.
Tchelidze also said that Lashkarava, accompanied by a friend, bought drugs in Ponichala - one of the well-known districts of drug dealing in the outskirts of Tbilisi – the day before his death.
He added as well that after Lashkarava consumed the drugs late at night he felt unwell and this can be proved by the video footages obtained from the nearby surveillance cameras.
Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri has meanwhile met with diplomatic corps earlier today:
Vakhtang Gomelauri held a meeting with the representatives of the Diplomatic Corps accredited in #Georgia & discussed the events that developed in #Tbilisi on July 1, 3, 5 in detail with the Ambassadorshttps://t.co/bfPPQAaAdl pic.twitter.com/fwAH1Vp9b4
— MIA of Georgia (@MIAofGeorgia) July 12, 2021
Following the briefing, journalists, civil activists and politicians, who had gathered in front of the parliament building in downtown Tbilisi demanding Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s resignation, have marched to the headquarters of the ruling Georgian Dream party in protest.
The investigation into Lashkarava’s death has started under the Article 115 of the Criminal Code of Georgia – ‘incitement to suicide’. The forensic examination to define the exact reason of his death is also underway.
Meanwhile, five right-wing activists have been detained for assaulting Lekso Lashkarava in the office of the Shame Movement in Tbilisi on July 5 during the counter-rally against the Tbilisi Pride march.