08:39, 4 July 2018

Zaza Saralidze stops his protest at the MIA

Zaza Saralidze, father of one of the murdered schoolboys, decided to stop his protest action held near the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Georgia. He has made the decision after the today's meeting with MIA heads.

On December 1, 2017, two teenagers were stabbed as a result of a fight which took place near a school in Tbilisi. One of them died on the way to the hospital. The second was hospitalized in a critical condition and later died.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 2, Zaza Saralidze, father of one of the murdered schoolboys, began a hunger strike in the yard of the MIA, demanding from investigators to detain one of the main witnesses, whom he considers involved in the murder of his son.

Today, Saralidze held a meeting with one of the deputies of the MIA head and the head of one of the departments. It was also attended by Saralidze's advocate and Georgia's People's Defender (Ombudsperson) Nino Lomjariya, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

"It was stated at the meeting that radical steps will be taken till the end of the week; therefore, I won't continue my protest here, I won't stay for the night, I'll go," he said after the meeting on the air of the "Imedi" Georgian TV Channel.

He refused to talk about the details of the meeting and about particular steps in the murder case of his son that would be made, motivating it by the unwillingness to "interfere with the process."

Let us remind you that the court's judgement on the murder case of two schoolboys provoked multi-day protests in Tbilisi. Activists demanded a fair punishment for the culprits and law enforcers who shelter them.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 3, 2018 at 10:31 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.