The Tbilisi City Court has found Demetre Chikovani and Ani Naskidashvili guilty in the murder case of teacher Giga Avaliani. The judge will announce the sentences at noon on June 2.
The prosecution argued that Demetre Chikovani was preparing an attack on Giga Avaliani, while Ani Naskidashvili was accused of failing to report a pending crime.
Giga Avaliani’s mother, Eka Kupatadze, reacted to the court’s decision on social media.
“Yes! The court has found Ani Naskidashvili and Demetre Chikovani guilty! For six months, the defendants’ parents and lawyers ‘put on a circus’! But yes, it was no circus! It was the murder of an innocent, healthy, brilliant young man! The sentencing day is scheduled for June 2 at 12:00!” she wrote.
As a reminder, the court previously found the minor Demetre Chikovani guilty on two main charges covering five episodes. Ultimately, he was sentenced to 6 years and 9 months in prison. According to the investigation, he was accused of preparing to cause intentional grievous bodily harm committed by a group, as well as organizing and participating in group violence.
Alexander Gabashvili and Georgi Rikadze were also defendants in the same case, and they were sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison each.
Two convicted in the murder case of teacher Avaliani sentenced to 14 years, one to 9 years in prison
The Case of Teacher Giga Avaliani
In September 2025, Alexander Gabashvili, a suspect in the criminal case, learned from Nia Imnadze that she had started math lessons with Giga Avaliani, who, according to her, was showing her excessive attention.
Alexander Gabashvili contacted his friends Georgi Rikadze and Demetre Chikovani and told them about this, after which they decided as a group to attack Giga Avaliani and cause serious harm to his health.
To this end, they identified Avaliani, checked his social media profile, and downloaded his photo to recognize him visually; they found out his work and home addresses, studied his work schedule, and how he traveled from work to home.
They selected a location to carry out their plan and began tracking him. On the evening of September 29, 2025, Alexander Gabashvili, Georgi Rikadze, and Demetre Chikovani arrived at the scene of the <crime>.
In Tbilisi, near the training center located in the settlement of Zgvisubani (Temka — Ed.), they set up an ambush and created all the conditions to attack Giga Avaliani and cause serious harm to his health.
From approximately 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM, they waited for Giga Avaliani to leave the center, but on that day, they were unable to carry out their plan due to circumstances beyond their control.
In accordance with the plan developed by Alexander Gabashvili, Georgi Rikadze, and Demetre Chikovani, in October 2025, Alexander Gabashvili and Georgi Rikadze carried out their intention. Specifically, at approximately 10:20 PM in Tbilisi, in the Zgvisubani district (11th micro-district, 3rd block), near residential building No. 56a, Alexander Gabashvili and Georgi Rikadze attacked Giga Avaliani.
As a result, Giga Avaliani died in a medical facility on October 24, 2025.