The director of Georgia’s Maritime Transport Agency, Aleksi Akhvlediani, has been fired after the former head of Adjara, Tornike Rizhvadze, was shot in the chest using what appeared to be Akhvlediani’s gun.
Akhvlediani had served as the agency’s director since May 2023.
On Monday, the Georgian police launched an investigation into the incident involving the two officials, including on charges of negligent storage of a firearm, later confirming to local media that Akhvlediani had been detained on that charge. A Tbilisi court released Akhvlediani on ₾30,000 ($11,000) bail the following day.
Tornike Rizhvadze was admitted with a gunshot wound to a local hospital in the town of Sagarejo, in the eastern Kakheti Region, on Monday morning and given emergency medical care.
The incident reportedly took place at a house belonging to Akhvlediani’s mother. Opposition-leaning channel TV Pirveli reported that Rizhvadze had been staying there with Akhvlediani for several days.
Following the incident, pro-government media outlets asserted that Rizhvadze had left a suicide note in which he attributed his alleged suicide attempt to corruption charges against him and appealed to the ruling party to protect his family.
However, there has been widespread scepticism of this version of events from government critics.
On Wednesday, Rizhvadze was transferred from the First University Clinic in Tbilisi to Turkey for further treatment.
The online media outlet Publika cited the head of the First University Clinic, as saying he was transferred upon his family’s request.
‘He was transferred at around 2:00. The health condition was stable but serious — the patient was on a ventilator, although with improved parameters’, Lali Turdzeladze told Publika.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
