Tbilisi City Court Acquits UNM MP

The Tbilisi City Court acquitted on Friday opposition UNM lawmaker, Roland Akhalaia, of exceeding official powers charges stemming from two separate cases from the time when he served as chief prosecutor in western Georgian region of Samegrelo in 2009.

Prosecutor’s office filed charges against MP Akhalaia last year, claiming that he forced relatives of an accused persons transfer on an account of a private firm GEL 150,000 in one case and GEL 60,000 in another case in exchange of plea bargaining deals when serving as chief prosecutor in Samegrelo.

When announcing acquittal verdict on March 20, judge Davit Mgeliashvili said that during the trial a person, who was regarded by the prosecution as a “victim”, told the court that she was not forced by Akhalaia to transfer money and did it upon her own will. The judge also said that the prosecution failed to present any evidence backing its allegation that the “state interests were infringed” in these cases.    

“It was a political persecution by the current authorities. I knew that not guilty verdict was inevitable in case of a fair trial. Although there possibly was a pressure, the judge resist it,” MP Akhalaia told journalists after the verdict was delivered.

Prosecutor Archil Tkeshelashvili said that the verdict will be appealed in the higher court.

Roland Akhalaia, a majoritarian MP from the Zugdidi single-mandate constituency, is father of former prison chief and ex-defense minister Bacho Akhalaia, who was sentenced to 7.5 years in jail last year; Roland Akhalaia’s other son, former senior interior ministry official, Data Akhalaia, is wanted by the Georgian law enforcement agencies.