Zura Popkhadze, an officer of the Ministry of Internal Affairs detained in connection with the death of a young man in Varketili, pleaded guilty and talked about the details of the incident.

According to him, the deceased young man, along with his brother, tried to steal Popkhadze’s friend’s car, which caused the conflict.

Mevlud Janjgava, a lawyer of Zura Popkhadze, says the accused has admitted to beating two persons.

Prior to the trial, the lawyer told reporters at the Tbilisi City Court that he had visited and talked to the detainee in the temporary detention isolator.

According to the lawyer, the accident occurred in a cemetery, where the accused was together with his friend. When the accused returned to his car after visiting a relative’s grave, he saw two persons sitting in the car and trying to hijack it, which led to a conflict and beating that ended fatally.

As the Prosecutor said, after the beating, the defendant took the deceased home for first aid. When the situation worsened, he called for ambulance.
Pre-trial detention has been ordered for Zura Popkhadze. The judge also satisfied the motion of the prosecution and suspended the accused of duties.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs started an investigation on January 3, 2019.

Zura Popkhadze was arrested on January 5. As it was found out that the accused was an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the case was referred to the Investigation Unit of the Tbilisi Prosecutor"s Office for further investigation on 6 January.

As of today, the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia continues to obtain and investigate evidence.