Advocate of Soso Pavliashvili, suspected of murder in Georgia, claims his client's rights are violated

The Tbilisi City Court is holding pre-trial hearings on the murder of businessman Avtandil Aduashvili, where one of the defendants is a relative of the Georgian pop singer Soso Pavliashvili, who lives in Moscow. The next court hearing is scheduled for April 19. Pavliashvili hopes that at that sitting Vakhtang Chkhapeliya will reject his earlier evidence, according to which the singer was the financier of the crime. Chkhapeliya's advocate complains about violation of the rights of his client by the investigation.

Let us remind you that on March 29, a trial started in Georgia on the murder of November 23, 2012, of the 43-year-old businessman Avtandil Aduashvili. Several persons are suspected of the killing, including Vakhtang Chkhapeliya, Soso Pavliashvili's brother-in-law. On that very day, a number of Georgian mass media spread information that Soso Pavliashvili was a figurant in the criminal case. However, on March 30, Archil Kbilashvili, the Prosecutor General of Georgia, said that no criminal proceedings had been initiated against the singer.

On April 1, the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia issued a statement that at that stage Pavliashvili would not be the prosecution, because apart from the evidence of Vakhtang Chkhapelya, who is married to Pavliashvili's sister, there were no other charges against the singer.

The advocate Levan Djavakhadze, who is representing the interests of the defendant Vakhtang Chkhapeliya, asserts that Pavliashvili has nothing to do with the case.

"The name of Pavliashvili was mentioned in connection with the case, but not as a defendant. He has no attitude to the case," Levan Djavakhadze told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to one of the readers of the "Caucasian Knot", who writes under the nickname "Robinson" and who left a comment to the news of Pavliashvili's possible involvement in the crime in Georgia, an attempt to bring the link the case to the Georgian singer has a political pretext. "Here, they found a reason to touch him - the famous singer! And all because he lives and works in Russia!" wrote "Robinson".

The defendant's lawyer sees no political motive in the case. Much more important, in his view, is the violation of his client's rights. At the same time, according to the news agency "Georgia Online", Levan Djavakhadze said earlier that his client had given all his testimony under pressure, and he would change them at the trial.

According to Vakhtang Chkhapeliya's evidence, voiced in the media, Pavliashvili financed the crime. He said during the investigation that the singer had repeatedly lent money to Avtandil Aduashvili, but the latter protracted the return of debts. It is for the set of such facts Chkhapeliya with Pavliashvili decided to punish Aduashvili - the former took over the performance, and the singer had given money for the murder.

The suspect said that they did not plan to kill the businessman, just to beat him. According to Chkhapeliya, he found a man who agreed to do this "job" for 50,000 US dollars; and a large part of the sum was given by Pavliashvili. Further, according to Vakhtang Chkhapeliya's story, when Pavliashvili learned of the murder of the businessman, he sent 10,000 US dollars to Aduashvili family for funeral arrangements, the "Tbilisi Week" writes.

Soso Pavliashvili himself does not deny that he knew Avtandil Aduashvili but treats his possible involvement in the murder as absurd. "We grew up together with him; and I'm still helping his family. You may contact them - they'll confirm it," said the singer, as the ITAR-TASS reports.

"For 10 years I've been blamed as a traitor and Russia's agent in Georgia, 'cause I live and work in Russia," Pavliashvili said in his interview to "Komsomolskaya Pravda".

"In the worst nightmare I can't imagine what there was and how. During the last year the deceased has been telling me all the time that he was shadowed, and they wanted to kill him; Although we met with him twice a year. Who wanted to kill him and for what I don't know," said the singer.