European Court rejects claims of former UNM officials on “unfair trial” in high-profile murder case

The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday rejected the claims of former law enforcement officials of the United National Movement Government on “unfair” domestic trials related to the high-profile murder case of Zurab Vazagashvili and Aleksandre Khubulov in 2006.

The legal proceedings against the applicants  - Irakli Pirtskhalava, who had served as the former Deputy Head of the Central Criminal Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Giorgi Tsaadze, the former Deputy Head of the Search Department in the same division - were conducted “fairly” following their arrest in 2015, ECHR said in its ruling.

The applicants claimed they had not been given a fair trial because of the “domestic courts’ reliance on unreliable witness evidence”. 

According to the court, the evidence presented also confirmed Pirtskhalava had planned and headed the special operation that saw two individuals, Vazagashvili and Khubulov, shot dead in Tbilisi on May 2, 2006. The court also rejected the claims of the former law enforcement officials that the victims had allegedly launched the shooting. 

Police in 2006 assured they responded with fire only after shots were fired from the vehicle of the victims, with their families challenging the official version. 

The UNM authorities closed the investigation into allegations of the use of excessive force by police for lack of evidence in April 2007. 

The Georgian Prosecutor’s Office solved the case in February 2015, during the Georgian Dream authorities, which resulted in the arrest of 11 former police officers.

Vazagashvili’s father Yuri Vazagashvili was killed by an alleged bomb detonation while visiting his son’s grave in their native village in January 2015.

The ECHR in 2019 ruled Georgia had to pay €50,000 to the family of Vazagashvili, saying the right to life had been violated and the investigation had been delayed and ineffective.