Following TV Exposure, Prosecutor’s Office Charges MP’s Son, Five Others, for Violent Assault

The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia announced on July 13 that Davit Kobaladze, son of Georgian Dream MP Koba Kobaladze, and five others have been charged with violence and inflicting grave injuries to a man identified as G.E.

The police arrested the six persons, including Kobaladze, on July 11 – some 17 days after the incident, only after opposition-leaning TV Pirveli channel announced that the son of the Georgian Dream’s “influential lawmaker” also participated in the incident.

Prosecutor’s office said it would seek pretrial detention for all six.

In a statement released today, the Prosecutor’s Office stated that Kobaladze and five others assaulted a young man for revenge in the Saburtalo district of Tbilisi. The prosecution said four persons beat G.E. and the two others – identified as S.K. and G. K. – wounded him using sharp objects.

Those two have been charged under article 117 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, for intentionally inflicting grave injury; one of the six attackers – under articles 126 and 238, involving violence and carrying of white arms by a person who has been previously convicted of an intentional serious or particularly serious crime or for carrying white arms; Davit Kobaladze and one more attacker – are charged under article 126, group violence, and G.B – under article 375, involving concealment of a particularly serious crime without prior conspiracy.

One of the assailants, charged with group violence, is evading detention and a warrant for his detention will be issued, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.

Commenting on his son’s involvement in the violence, Georgian Dream MP Koba Kobaladze, who served as the commander of the National Guard in the early 2000s, said his son appeared before police on his own initiative.

Some of the journalists and opposition members claimed the ruling party MP’s s son would not be arrested and without a journalist expose.

Responding to a journalist on whether selective justice was exercised in this case MP Kobaladze said „you are spreading lies. The truth will be established in court. Your [TV] instructor and yourself would like to be above the law, but this won’t be the case.”

“It is not my son’s fault that he is [Genral] Kobaladze’s son and neither is it my fault that I have children. Let justice take its course,” MP Kobaladze added.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)