20:17, 21 July 2018

In Tbilisi, a witness of schoolboys' murder arrested

The Tbilisi City Court has pronounced the decision to take into custody a teenager suspected of giving false testimony in a resonant case on the murder of two minors in Khorava Street.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 19, the minor who witnessed the murder of two schoolchildren was detained on suspicion of giving false testimony.

On December 1, 2017, as a result of a brawl near a school in Tbilisi, two schoolboys were stabbed. One of them died on the way to the hospital, the other died later. On June 1, the court sentenced one accused to 10.5 years in prison, and the second one – to 9 years and 9 months of imprisonment. On July 2, Zaza Saralidze, the father of one of the casualties, went on a hunger strike in the yard of the Georgian MIA, demanding to detain one of the main witnesses, whom he considered involved in his son's murder. On July 3, after a meeting with MIA bosses, he stopped his protest.

The Court has granted the request of the Prosecutor's Office and pronounced the decision to arrest the minor suspected of giving false testimony, the "InterPressNews" reports today.

Advocates of the detainees asked to release him on bail, the Georgian Public TV reported.

The "Caucasian Knot" does not have any comments from the arrested minor or his representatives regarding the Court's decision.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 21, 2018 at 02:34 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.