On the evening of December 30 special forces were mobilized near the village of Nakhiduri, in vicinity of the town of Marneuli, and remained in the area until the early hours of the morning of December 31, two teenagers were killed by a drunk driver on the Bolnisi-Marneuli road after on the evening of December 30. The incident was followed by an active protest by the locals, who physically attacked the driver and overturned the ambulance, allegedly because it first attended to the driver responsible for the tragic accident.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs reports that the 21-year-old driver has already been arrested and the investigation has started under the Article 276 of the Criminal Code (Violation of traffic safety rules or rules for operating transport).
The incident happened in the evening, the 21-year-old man was driving with three passengers in a drunken state when he ran over two teenage boys crossing the road. One died instantly and the other died on the way to hospital. After running over the teenagers, the driver got out of the car, punched the teenagers who were lying on the ground and started cursing, which led to a fight with the car’s passengers, their relatives, the teenagers’ relatives and people standing nearby. The driver is reportedly a relative of a local official. The area where the incident took place is heavily populated by the Azerbaijani minority.
After the ambulance was called, the paramedics allegedly decided to treat the car passengers first, before the teenagers who had been run over. Locals saw this as a sign of disrespect, saying that if doctors had treated the boys earlier, they might have had a chance of survival. Protests broke out in the area, with people overturning the ambulance and later the car that ran over the teenagers. Special forces were mobilised in the area.
“I am very emotional now, I have to bury my son first and then I will take care of everything. Yesterday, when the police arrived, my son was lying unconscious on the ground, but no one paid any attention. Both the police and the ambulance protected and hid the murderer. If the ambulance had taken care of my son in time, he might have survived. The killer was drunk. The place where the accident happened is a school roundabout and according to the rules he should have slowed down, but he came at a high speed and killed my son. The whole village is with me,” shared the father of one of the teenagers to TV Pirveli.
The MIA reported that the locals obstructed the movement of the passengers of the car involved in the incident, and also obstructed the investigation of the law enforcers and the work of the paramedics. “In order to de-escalate the situation, representatives of various units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, including officers from the patrol, criminal and Special Tasks Departments, immediately arrived at the scene.”
MIA also notes that some Ministry employees were injured in the confrontation, as well as 8 locals who had to be hospitalized. The police remained in the area throughout the night. The MIA opened a separate investigation into the facts of damage to property, resistance to police officers and violence under Articles 187, 126 and 353 of the Criminal Code.
“10 patients were admitted to the clinic with various injuries. At the moment we have four patients, the general condition of all of them is satisfactory. One patient had an eye and eyeball injury and was transferred to Tbilisi, we are conducting tests, and if necessary, they will be provided with assistance,” told TV Pirveli the doctor of Bolnisi hospital on the morning of December 31. Special forces also surrounded the hospital.
The Public Defender shared a statement on the incident, saying: “This tragic incident once again highlights the important challenges facing our society, such as the rule of law, equality and road safety. Every child has the fundamental right to live in a safe environment, including access to safe roads and public spaces. We urge the relevant authorities to prioritize the implementation and enforcement of road safety measures, including appropriate road signs, speed limits and public awareness campaigns, to prevent such tragedies.”