Georgian police have detained Luka (Eldar) Kurtanidze, a former MP from the ruling Georgian Dream party, on charges of domestic violence. The arrest followed videos provided by his ex-wife, Khatuna Mikatsadze, who accused the police of attempting to protect him.
In addition to domestic violence, Kurtanidze was detained for failing to comply with a restraining order that prohibited him from contacting his ex-wife.
‘The investigation established that the defendant violated an obligation set by a protective order issued by the court against him — he contacted his former spouse and physically assaulted her’, the Interior Ministry said in its Sunday statement.
Kurtanidze faces up to two years in prison if found guilty.
Before the statement, on the same day, Mikatsadze released a video filmed in a coastal town of Kobuleti showing Kurtanidze moving toward the person recording — presumably Mikatsadze — while cursing and shouting, ‘Get out of my house!’
‘Abuser! Thief!’ Mikatsadze shouted back.
She also asked a police officer present at the scene why they were not detaining Kurtanidze and claimed that one of the officers attempted to delete the video from her phone.
In another video, published by TV Pirveli and likely recorded after the incident, Mikatsadze said that this was not the first instance of violence against her by Kurtanidze, who, in addition to being a former MP, is also a well-known veteran wrestler and a former president of the Wrestling Federation.
Nevertheless, the woman claimed that the police did not respond properly and tried to convince her that a lighter charge should be brought against Kurtanidze due to his successful wrestling career.
‘Every time I turned to the police, they told me that since he is Eldar Kurtanidze, “let’s not ruin him” and suggested limiting the charges to psychological abuse’, Mikatsadze said.
‘I hope that now, especially since police officers witnessed the physical violence, they can no longer claim it was psychological abuse’, she added, showing a shot of a bandaged elbow stained with blood and adding that her knees were also injured.
Mikatsadze added that Kurtanidze had threatened her, saying, ‘I am the government, I am the state, and you are opposing the state’.
A scratch was also visible on her neck in a photo released by TV Pirveli.
On Monday, Mikatsadze’s lawyer, Tamar Nebieridze, told journalists that four restraining orders had been issued against Kurtanidze in the past, as well as a nine-month protective order.
According to Nebieridze, the protective order, in addition to prohibiting Kurtanidze from approaching Mikatsadze, also prevented him from unilaterally using the house owned jointly by the two.
Nevertheless, according to the lawyer, the police ‘did not act immediately’ and effectively allowed Kurtanidze to sell his share of the house and to continue managing and controlling it alone, ‘hiding behind someone else’s name’.
According to Nebieridze, it was to that very house that Mikatsadze arrived on Sunday, where her ex-husband met her and assaulted her.
‘Mikatsadze has addressed multiple complaints to all agencies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Their delayed response led to the outcome we now see’, Nebieridze added.
OC Media has contacted the Ministry of Internal Affairs to obtain information about the current status of the case but had not received a response at the time of publication.
After a long wrestling career, Kurtanidze joined the then-newly founded opposition party Georgian Dream in 2012. Following the party’s election victory, he served as a member of parliament on its behalf from 2015 to 2016.
In 2023, TV Pirveli reported that a woman had filed a complaint against Kurtanidze for physical and sexual violence while she was pregnant.
At the time, the prosecutor in charge of the case, Mariam Meshveliani, confirmed the channel that a complaint had been filed but stated that ‘apart from the plaintiff’s testimony, the investigative body had no other direct evidence that would specifically confirm any act of violence by Eldar Kurtanidze against the victim’.
The prosecutor also said that after filing the complaint, the woman changed her testimony. When asked why the case had not been closed if there were no grounds for criminal prosecution, Meshveliani stated that expert examinations had been ordered and the relevant conclusions had not yet been received.
OC Media has contacted the Prosecutor General’s Office to obtain information about the current status of the case, but has not yet received an answer.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
