Investigators have questioned three opposition politicians in connection with the death of Lazare Jorbenadze, an interviewee of the newspaper Asaval-Dasavali: Khatia Dekanoidze (United National Movement), Tazo Datunashvili (Lelo), and Irma Inashvili (Alliance of Patriots of Georgia).
Khatia Dekanoidze and Tazo Datunashvili chose to testify before a magistrate judge, whereas Irma Inashvili reported to the Dighomi police department, RFE/RL’s Georgian Service reports.
“It is all quite simple: they have whipped up propaganda noise around this case. The goal is to smear Garibashvili and cobble together some sort of conglomerate to make it appear as though Garibashvili, Datunashvili, and Gvaramia speak with one voice. But they will not succeed,” Tazo Datunashvili stated after the questioning.
Khatia Dekanoidze told journalists that she had asked investigators whether they intend to question Irakli Kobakhidze and Mamuka Mdinaradze, whom Irakli Garibashvili mentioned in the same letter where questions were raised regarding the circumstances of Lazare Jorbenadze’s death:
“This process carried no legal weight; everything taking place was complete nonsense and an unthinkable farce.”
Following their questioning, prosecutor Medea Tsiramua stated that “none of the aforementioned witnesses was able to provide investigators with any information regarding the fact of Jorbenadze’s suicide.”
Irma Inashvili is also convinced that investigators need to question Kobakhidze and Mdinaradze. According to her, “summoning us is a waste of state resources”:
“Starting today, questions will begin to arise for the authorities and Kobakhidze directly. What document are we even talking about? Does such a document or any similar act exist? What is going on around David Gareja?… If such a document exists, let them make it public. Where we previously had free access on the grounds of Gareja, today we can no longer go.”
In the same case, investigators had previously questioned:
- Irakli Garibashvili, former prime minister;
- Nika Gvaramia, co-chair of the Coalition for Change;
- Gia Khukhashvili, political analyst;
- Giorgi Gigauri, writer and publicist.
The Georgian Prosecutor’s Office stated that the following individuals are also due to be questioned:
- TV host Nanuka Zhorzholiani;
- “Georgia” party member Giorgi Liluashvili;
- journalist Zaza Davitaia;
- activist Ermile Nemsadze.
What Garibashvili’s August 1 Letter Was About
In his latest open letter from prison, the former prime minister of Georgia claimed that on February 12, on instructions from Irakli Kobakhidze and Mamuka Mdinaradze, an issue of the Asaval-Dasavali newspaper dated February 2 containing an interview with Lazare Jorbenadze was delivered to his cell. The interviewee claimed that the David Gareja monastery complex on the border with Azerbaijan had been “sold” and that he had personally seen a document confirming this. At the same time, he criticized Irakli Kobakhidze’s activities while portraying Irakli Garibashvili in a positive light.
“I was handed a pretentious message prompted by an entirely false perception: was I not behind the article in question myself?… Now the picture is crystal clear to me, and the question has been answered as to why the very first point of the letter reprimanded me, claiming that supporters like ‘Dito Chubinidze and Irma Inashvili’ had sowed serious doubts and caused substantial damage to the interests of the Kobakhidze–Mdinaradze team,” Garibashvili wrote in his August 1 letter.
Two days later, the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office released a statement saying that “individuals who had been in contact with the deceased were questioned, including his family members and spouse, on the basis of which the fact of suicide has been reliably confirmed at this stage.”
The same statement revealed that individuals who had commented publicly on Lazare Jorbenadze’s death, including opposition leaders, were being summoned for questioning.
Specifically, Khatia Dekanoidze had stated: “The former prime minister, the man who served Ivanishvili the longest, points directly at Kobakhidze and Mdinaradze, accusing them of killing people or driving them to suicide.” Nika Gvaramia urged not to overlook the fact that Garibashvili, in his letter, implicates Kobakhidze and Mdinaradze in murders disguised as suicide. For her part, Irma Inashvili said that, as far as she knew, Jorbenadze was a deeply religious man who regularly took confession and communion, so “his suicide raised doubts and generated a host of questions from the very beginning.”