Mestia murder suspects in pretrial detention, conflicting versions in court

Two men accused in the murder of a Russian national in western Georgia have been put under pre-trial detention and could be sentenced to 16 to 20 years or life imprisonment. Their defence team claims that the incident was connected to drugs.

The two suspects, Revaz Pakeliani and Bezhan Chkadua, stood trial in a local court in Zugdidi, western Georgia. They face charges of armed robbery, premeditated murder with aggravating circumstances, and the illegal acquisition and possession of a firearm.

RFE/RL has reported that the two were denied bail, with the court upholding the prosecution’s argument that the suspects might go into hiding or intimidate potential witnesses, as some witnesses are related to the suspects.

Chkadua and Pakeliani are the primary suspects of the murder of Russian national Viktor Solovyov on 5 January. Solovyov was believed to have been shot dead by Pakeliani, as he and another woman were headed to Mestia, Svaneti, from Zugdidi.

Two arrested in murder of Russian national in Georgia

Georgian police have detained two people on charges of murdering a Russian national in Svaneti, western Georgia.

OC MediaMikheil Gvadzabia

The Interior Ministry and the Prosecutor’s Office have both reported that the suspects dumped Solovyov’s body into a river in an attempt to cover up their crime.

Since the murder took place, conflicting reports emerged from the prosecution and defence regarding the circumstances of the case. The prosecution is pursuing robbery as a motive for Solovyov’s murder, but the suspects’ defence team have argued that a drug-related crime had taken place before the murder.

According to RFE/RL, Pakeliani’s lawyer, Lasha Khoshtaria, stated in court that the deceased man and his female companion were drug dealers, and that their phone contained footage depicting the illegal storage of drugs, which led to the confrontation.

The suspects’ lawyers deny that their clients stole the victims’ phones, with Khoshtaria saying that his client only requested the phone to obtain information about a potential illegal drug location.

According to Mtavari, Khoshtaria said Solovyov’s companion destroyed the phones in question to eliminate any evidence of a potential drug-related crime committed by her and the murdered victim.

The judge presiding over the case, Shota Bichia, confirmed during the court session that Pakeliani mentioned drugs during his interrogation.

‘As one of the accused states in the interrogation protocol, they wanted to obtain information about locations where drug substances were stored and to acquire drugs. This desire led to the actions that followed’, Bichia said, according to IPN.

‘I was defending myself’

According to RFE/RL, during the session, the prosecution asked Pakeliani why he had shot Solovyov, to which he replied: ‘I was defending myself’.

Prosecutor Davit Papava said that the prosecution has evidence proving the defendants’ involvement in the crime, including Pakeliani’s pistol, as well as ammunition, and a phone, which was ‘burned and destroyed’.

Papava maintained that circumstances linking the crime to drugs have not been established ‘at this point’. He also added that there was no evidence in the case suggesting that Pakeliani acted in self-defence. He mentioned that the deceased Solovyov was carrying a knife, but it was immediately taken from his pocket by the second suspect, Bezhan Chkadua.

RFE/RL has reported that both Pakeliani and Chkhadua had previous convictions for drug-related crimes and are currently on probation. Following his arrest, Pakeliani was also found to be in possession of a small amount of methadone, for which he was fined ₾500 ($180).

While initial reports about the murder were scarce, a Telegram channel run by Nikolai Levchich, a Russian blogger based in Georgia, identified the murdered victim as Viktor Solovyov. He also published an account of the confrontation, allegedly given by Solovyov’s companion’s family.

The account suggested that the confrontation took place after the suspects blocked the road in front of Solovyov and his companion, and then demanded their phones, believing them to have taken pictures of them beforehand.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs announced the detention of the suspects the day after the incident, on 6 January.