Gamsakhurdiya's defence hopes to reduce the term claimed for Tsotne

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent with reference to Keti Bekauri, the advocate of Tsotne Gamsakhurdiya, the son of the first president of Georgia, who is accused of attacking an athlete, the defence hopes to reduce the expected imprisonment term for Tsotne from 13 years to 5 years after the charges of espionage and conspiracy have been lifted.

The criminal prosecution of Tsotne Gamsakhurdiya in Georgia began back on September 3, 2008, when he returned to the country from Russia and was arrested at TbilisiAirport. On September 4, he was charged with espionage in favour of Russia and plotting to overthrow the existing political system. The point was about the videos, distributed in November 2007, during oppositional actions.

On September 5, 2008, he was charged again – with injuring in 1999 inTbilisi from firearms of Avtandil Maglakelidze, a player the Georgian national water polo team.

In late October 2008, Gamsakhurdiya, arrested under the "espionage" case was released on bail. But a year later, on October 27, 2009, he was again detained in Tbilisi – this time on charges of a murder attempt during a domestic quarrel with his neighbour David Badjelidze. In April 2010, Tsotne Gamsakhurdiya was sentenced to 9.5 years, but only on charges of an attempted murder of the neighbour.

In July 2010, Gamsakhurdiya saw a new charge – of bribing an employee of the health facility, where he was taking his treatment, for delivering correspondence. On February 28, 2011, the court found him guilty of this crime and increased his sentence to 13 years and 2 months.

On September 28, 2012, Elias II, the Patriarch of all Georgia, petitioned to the President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili asking to pardon Gamsakhurdiya. On October 23 Saakashvili issued a decree; and on December 5, the prosecutor at the Tbilisi City Court recalled the charges of espionage; however, the case of the attempt on Maglakelidze in 1999 continues to be considered.

Tsotne Gamsakhurdiya himself has refused to plead guilty on any of the episodes, asserting that he was made a victim of persecutions by the authorities.

"Tsotne was acquitted of espionage and plot. Now, the case will be considered under Article 117 (premeditated bodily harm) of the Criminal Code of Georgia; therefore, his expected term will be reduced to five years," said Keti Bekauri, Tsotne's advocate.

Now, Tsotne Gamsakhurdiya is at large, but his case is still classified.