Georgia’s Interior Ministry has launched an investigation after a late-night shooting at the Qvevri restaurant in Tbilisi. According to local media, the shooting occurred over a financial dispute between businessperson Lasha Baslandze and restaurant owner Zurab Tibua.
The shooting took place early on Saturday morning at around 01:00. At that time, Baslandze reportedly entered the restaurant where he physically assaulted Tibua before opening fire.
Footage obtained by TV Pirveli shows a man enter the restaurant while carrying what appears to be a gun in his hand. He then walks up to a table before pulling another man off a chair and beating him. Others rush to the scene to split the men apart. The footage shown did not appear to show any shots being fired, however.
According to Tibua’s lawyer, Tamar Abesadze, Tibua was diagnosed with a concussion following the attack, while a security guard was also injured.
Abesadze told IPN that Tibua had leased the restaurant, which he had purchased with a bank loan, to Baslandze. After the agreed payment under the contract was not made, Tibia cancelled the contract with Baslandze and ordered him to vacate the premises. This ‘caused resentment’, leading Baslandze to approach the restaurant armed.
‘By brandishing the weapon, he attacked the restaurant’s owner. A fight broke out, and there was a gunshot. People were injured. Shalva Tibua has already been questioned, and now we are preparing to present the video footage that shows what happened’, Abesadze told IPN.
Following the attack, Tibua was reportedly questioned by police as a witness. It was not until late afternoon the following day that Baslandze was summoned to the Dighomi First Police Department for questioning, a delay government critics have attributed to Baslandze’s friendship with Bera Ivanishvili, the son of Georgian Dream founder and billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili.
In a phone conversation with Rustavi 2, Baslandze claimed that he had a conflict with Tibua due to the latter’s ‘unworthy behaviour’, and that he had only been carrying a toy gun.
‘During the scuffle, [Tibua’s] friend or a security guard fired a shot into the air with some registered weapon. The restaurant staff took the weapon away and handed it over to the police. That’s the whole story. I have no complaint — if the police want to demand accountability for the shot in the air, that’s their business’, Baslandze said, as quoted by IPN.
Baslandze is currently under investigation on charges of the illegal purchase, storage, and carrying of weapons, which carries a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
