საერთო ცხელი ხაზი +995 577 07 05 63
ETHNIC MINORITIES /
Statement
EMC: The case of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili continues to be handled with flaws
The Human Rights Education and Monitoring Centre (EMC) assesses the process of cooperation between the Georgian Prosecutor's Office and the official agencies of the Federal Republic of Germany in the case of the murder of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, and believes that the Georgian Prosecutor's Office's efforts were delayed at this stage.
Following the brutal assassination of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin on August 23rd, 2019, the Human Rights Education and Monitoring Centre (EMC), as Zelimkhan Khangoshvili's Advocacy Organization, appealed to the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia to investigate the possible connection between the crime in Germany and the attack on Khangoshvili in Georgia on May 28, 2018. A few days ago, EMC was given the opportunity to become acquainted with the communication materials between the official agencies of Georgia and the Federal Republic of Germany. As the study of the materials shows, the efforts of the prosecutor's office were also delayed in this regard. In particular, the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia requested information from its associate office only on March 19th, 2020, 7 months after Khangoshvili's assassination, and even then only after several appeals by EMC.[1]
The Prosecutor's Office of Georgia requested information from the official German agency, inquiring into the details of the murder (motive, purpose, other persons involved in the murder), including the data on the accused, and required an expert comparison between the attacker of Z. Khangoshvili in Georgia, as shown on the recorded video material, with the person arrested in Germany. Following this appeal, on August 4th, 2020 an additional appeal was lodged in Germany requesting the photos of the person arrested for the murder of Khangoshvili. According to the German official agency, the General Prosecutor's Office of Georgia was given the details of the murder and the accused, however, it was not possible to establish a connection between the Khangoshvili's attacker in Georgia and the person arrested in Germany.
In general, the analysis of the ongoing investigation process following the death of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili also showed once again the problem of inefficiency and the illusory nature of the ongoing investigation in the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia. In particular, the investigation requested information from the ballistics database regarding the cartridge cases removed from the crime scene during the assassination attempt on Khangoshvili only in May of this year, which is 5 years after the attack; it was at the same time that they ordered a biological expert to determine the traces of blood on Khangoshvili's clothes and requested the records of the local cellular network stations; information was also requested from the information analytical database of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia regarding the crossing of the Georgian border by certain persons. In addition, several individuals were questioned, who had nothing of value to say to the investigation. It should be noted that none of the investigative / procedural actions conducted this year identified any significant circumstances for the investigation. At a time so long after the incident, one could not possibly have such expectations.
Thus, the investigative actions carried out this year show once again that the Georgian Prosecutor's Office failed to conduct an effective and proper investigation into the case of the attack on Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Tbilisi and carried out all important investigative actions with obvious delays, which creates an impression of conscious indifference and negligence towards the legal interests and security of its own citizen.
As is known to the public, Khangoshvili was attacked on May 28th, 2015 in the centre of Tbilisi. Khangoshvili was shot in his car 8 times and survived by chance. An investigation has been launched into the incident in Georgia, but at the very first stage of the investigation, the Georgian Prosecutor's Office demonstrated inaction and delayed the collection of the most important evidence.[2] At the very beginning of the ongoing investigation in Georgia, Khangoshvili indicated that he had been of high interest to the special services of the Russian Federation due to his participation in the Russian-Chechen war in 2001-2005, an interest which was manifest in the open assassinations of several of his comrades. Despite this, the law enforcement agencies refused to use special protection measures for Khangoshvili, thus forcing him to leave Georgia. Khangoshvili was assassinated in Berlin on August 23rd, 2019. According to the information disseminated by the Federal Republic of Germany, Vadim K. a person of Russian nationality, murdered Khangoshvili by the order of the central government of the Russian Federation. Vadim K. is currently on trial.
Although there are still separate investigative / procedural actions in the case, the consideration of the relevance of some of them five years later is quite problematic and in our opinion, it is not intended to reach any legal result.
In view of the above, once again EMC calls
upon the General Prosecutor's Office of Georgia
- To inform the public immediately about the apparent ineffectiveness and delay of the investigation into the 2015 Khangoshvili attack in Tbilisi;
upon the Georgian Government
- Given the results of the investigation of the Federal Republic of Germany and its grave political context, make official public statements to openly condemn Russia's repressive policies and to protect the dignity and interests of our country and its citizens.
EMC continues to support the victim in the ongoing investigation into the case of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili and will update the public with further information.
Footnote and Bibliography
[1] The first address – 18.12.2019, the second address – 23.01.2020.
[2] Note: The investigative actions required in the case, including the retrieval and investigation of the video recordings, were either not carried out at all or were delayed, which led to the destruction of evidence, thus making it impossible to identify and arrest the attackers in a timely manner; the investigation did not ensure that the identification procedure was conducted directly in the presence of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, and other important expert investigations into the case were conducted only three years later; however, despite the fact that the factual circumstances of the case indicated an attempted murder, an investigation was launched into the fact of less serious crimes of damage to health and the illegal carrying of a firearm, and the classification of the crime was changed only after 3 years.
