Eight of nine suspects sentenced to prison for 2022 deadly electrocution incident in Tbilisi

Eight of the nine individuals arrested following the electrocution incident in Tbilisi’s central Vake Park in October 2022 that killed a 13-year-old and injured two others were on Monday sentenced to prison on several charges. 

In its ruling, Tbilisi City Court sentenced Lasha Purtskhvanidze, the head of Green Service+, a company contracted by the Tbilisi City Hall for the renovation works in the park, to six years in prison for professional neglect and forgery of official documents, and Giorgi Vakhtangashvili, the Deputy Head of the Environmental Protection City Service of the City Hall, to three years for professional neglect.

• See the case details here

Two other employees of the contractor firm - Devi Kakhoidze and Beka Murghvliani - have been sentenced to three years each for incitement to forgery and professional neglect, while Nugzar Kitiashvili, the Director of Mshenexpert sub-contractor, and his expert David Tushishvili were sentenced to three years and six months each for production and sale of forged documents. 

lasha Chikitashvili, of New Metal Design, a company involved in the renovation work of a fountain where the fatality took place, was sentenced to three years in prison for professional neglect, while Giorgi Gobejishvili, an electric welder, received four years in prison for violation of safety norms. 

The court found another welder, Valeri Gobejishvili, innocent in the same charge. 

The Prosecutor General’s Office on Monday said it would appeal the verdict and request stricter punishment to all nine individuals involved in the case. 

The minors were injured as they were trying to retrieve a ball that had fallen into the newly renovated fountain of the park and received an electric shock from an exposed wire, with 13-year-old Marita Meparishvili dying from her injuries shortly after.