Marneuli Mayor, Temur Abazov, who has been charged with inhuman and degrading treatment of a local resident, filed his resignation to the Marneuli City Council.
Abazov said that he could not hold the same position with “such charges” leveled against him, although he continues to claim innocence. “It was a well-organized provocation and there is no evidence, and facts about my involvement,” he said.
Abazov has been suspended from office pending the trial. His deputy, Zaur Tabatadze has been appointed as Acting Mayor. The Marneuli City Council is expected to deliberate and vote on relieving Abazov on his duties in the coming days.
The arrest came a day after Tbilisi-based Studio Monitor published a story showing a video of a Marneuli resident Elchin Alakhvediev compelled to apologize for verbally insulting the ruling party founder and leader Bidzina Ivanishvili and Marneuli Mayor Temur Abazov at one of the teen murder case rallies in Tbilisi. Another video, obtained by Studio Monitor, showed Alakhvediev forced into humiliation of wiping his face with what seemed to be his urine,
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