Day: February 12, 2024

On February 10, two employees of the occupied Gali police department, Albert Zarakua and Vianor Abshilava, were arrested in connection with the brutal murder of Georgian citizen Temur (Vitali) Karbaia, RFE/RL’s Russian-language Ekho Kavkaza reported.

According to the report, the de facto Abkhaz prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation against three individuals. These include the two detainees and another person, David Kvekveskiri whose whereabouts are unknown. The investigation was opened under two articles of the Criminal Code: intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm by a group of persons, and abuse of power by violence with serious consequences.

According to Ekho Kavkaza, which cites the de-facto Abkhaz prosecutor’s office, on December 6, 2023, Kvekveskiri detained Temur Karbaia and conducted an illegal personal search. When Karbaia began using obscene language, Kvekveskiri allegedly beat him. Zarakua and Abshilava then joined in and physically assaulted Karbaia. The beating caused bodily harm to Karbaya in the form of blunt trauma to the chest on the left with a fracture of four ribs, bruising on the upper and lower eyelids of the right eye. He was taken to a temporary detention center until his release on December 7. Karbaia passed away on December 9 at Sokhumi hospital, where he had been transferred from Gali hospital the day before “due to poor health.”

The three were reportedly arrested in December in connection with the murder, but later released according to local Georgian media.

On February 12, newly confirmed Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze held his first cabinet meeting.

PM Kobakhidze appointed Levan Davitashvili, Minister of Economy, as First Vice Prime Minister. Davitashvili previously served as Vice Prime Minister in Irakli Garibashvili’s cabinet. Tea Tsulukiani, Minister of Culture retained her vice premiership. Irakli Chikovani, newly appointed Minister of Defense, will also be the Vice Prime Minister. In addition, Kobakhidze appointed Mikheil Peikrishvili as Head of the Government’s Department of Strategic Communications, succeeding Nino Giorgobiani in this post.

PM Kobakhidze expressed his condolences to the families of the victims of the natural disasters that struck western Georgia last week. He said that the damage has been assessed and the affected people will be compensated, if necessary, from the central state budget.

Speaking about the government’s future plans he noted that the work of the government should be based on several basic principles in order to achieve the maximum.

Kobakhidze began by saying that “the Government of Georgia should be exemplary in terms of transparency and accountability,” adding that “every decision should be as public as possible,” and noting that the Government will apply the same approach to all its agencies.

Kobakhidze spoke about the importance of quality work: “We should strengthen all relevant quality assurance and monitoring mechanisms to minimize shortcomings,” adding that the same approach should be applied to public services.

He said that the Government should make decisions based on broad consultations with specialists: “Every time we make a certain decision, we should inform society as much as possible about the essence and reasons for this decision,” – said Kobakhidze, noting that this approach should be the guiding principle for the cabinet. In this regard, he mentioned the ongoing debates amidst the demolition of the Central Republican Hospital, noting the need for “active consultations with specialists in relevant fields, doctors, hospital stuff, in order to make proper decisions at the end”.

Finally, the new Prime Minister touched upon the issue of corruption, saying that although “Georgia has very good results in the fight against corruption” the country “should have a higher ambition” in this regard. “We should have the ambition to be among the leading countries in the world in this regard, which is an absolutely realistic goal,” he said.

Also Read:

• 08/02/2024 – Parliament Confirms PM Kobakhidze and his Cabinet of Ministers
• 08/02/2024 – Managing Upwards: Fall and Rise of Irakli Kobakhidze
• 01/02/2024 – Garibashvili’s Three-year Premiership: the Guardian of Self-Serving “Stability”