The Georgian authorities have arrested 34 people allegedly involved with the ‘criminal underworld’. One other, reportedly a former Georgian Dream local politician, was shot and killed after firing at officers during an arrest attempt.
The Interior Ministry reported the arrests on Wednesday morning, noting that seven others — including two prisoners, four people based abroad, and one ‘thief-in-law’ — had been charged.
According to the official statement, the arrests were ‘conducted simultaneously across the country by officers from the Central Criminal Police, Tbilisi, Kakheti, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, and Special Tasks Departments’.
The crimes are punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
The ministry also stated that during an attempt to detain 52-year-old Mirza Aliyev in the village of Kabali, Lagodekhi Municipality, an officer was ‘seriously wounded in the chest’ after Aliyev opened fire on officers. Aliyev was ‘eliminated on the spot’, the statement read.
Later on Wednesday, opposition United National Movement (UNM) party member Goga Arabuli wrote on Facebook that Aliyev was a former Georgian Dream politician in Kabali. An RFE/RL article from 2013 lists someone of the same name as a member of the Lagodekhi municipal council.
In their official statement, the Interior Ministry highlighted some of the more prominent detainees, including ‘the criminal authority’ Elmuraz Mammadov. They said Mammadov was involved in offering services to resolve disputes between people, using ‘fines’ and the threat of violence to uphold their decisions.
The ministry noted that as a result of searches into the defendants’ homes, computer equipment and mobile phones used to communicate with each other and with ‘thieves-in-law’ abroad, were seized as evidence. Drugs, firearms, and large amounts of money were also reportedly seized.
Another detainee was Davit Chubinidze, the head of security of businessperson Davit Mikadze, who was himself previously charged in absentia in connection with a murder that took place in central Tbilisi in March. Police said in September that Mikadze acted with his brother, fellow businessperson Giorgi Mikadze, who ordered the killing over ‘various issues related to business activities’.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
According to the ministry’s Wednesday statement, the investigation established that in September 2021, Chubinidze and Davit Mikadze had, by prior agreement, ‘collectively acquired five firearms registered in the name of Vakhtang Kobiashvili, one of which was illegally opened against a third party’.
The statement concluded by noting that the Interior Ministry ‘will continue its uncompromising fight against organised crime and, despite any opposition, will ensure that crime in our country is reduced to a historic minimum!’.
Yousef Bardouka
