Foreign citizens in Batumi charged with murder, failure to report crime

The Georgian prosecutor general’s office has charged a Turkish citizen for murder and illegal possession of firearms, while three others face the charge of failure in reporting an assault committed in the Black Sea city of Batumi this week, the state body announced on Friday.

The office said the assailant had shot one Georgian and several Turkish citizens in a restaurant in the city “with the motive of revenge” before fleeing the scene on Tuesday.

One of the Turkish citizens shot in the incident died shortly after being taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Three witnesses of the murder scene, also citizens of Turkey, failed to report the crime to the police, the agency added.

The assailant has been charged for attempted murder and illegal possession of firearms, while the other three have been charged for failure to report the crime.