Tbilisi City Court imposed a prison sentence of six years and nine months to Georgia’s ex-Minister of Internal Affairs, Vano Merabishvili, for organising the assault on opposition lawmaker Valeri Gelashvili in 2005.
Meanwhile Tbilisi City Court imposed a nine year prison sentence to ex-head of the Special Operative Department (SOD) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Erekle Kodua, and ex-chairman of a division of SOD, Gia Siradze, for their involvement in the crime.
The pair were found guilty of inflicting life-threatening injuries on Gelashvili and robbing him. The Court said they stole "expensive personal belongings and a large amount of cash” from their victim.
The Prosecutor’s Office said Saakashvili instructed Merabishvili to attack Gelashvili. Merabishvili accepted the offer and together with Kodua and his staff, carried out the attack on Gelashvili on July 14, 2005. Gelashvili was left with life-threatening injuries; he has since recovered after long and expensive treatment in Georgia and abroad, Agenda.ge reports.
