Aslan Abashidze sentenced in absentia to 15 years of imprisonment

The Batumi City Court has found Aslan Abashidze, the former chief of the Adjara Autonomous Republic, guilty of murdering his deputy Nodar Imnadze in 1991 and of blowing up two bridges in 2004. The defendant was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 3, 2006, Aslan Abashidze was accused of the Nodar Imnadze's murder. In May 2006, the Interpol put Aslan Abashidze on the international wanted list on suspicion of weapon possession, fraud and creation of a criminal organization, terrorism, and illegal deprivation of liberty. On January 22, 2007, in Batumi, the court found Aslan Abashidze guilty of embezzling 99 million laris (about 57 million US dollars) of public funds. The defendant was sentenced in absentia to 15 years of imprisonment and obliged to return the above mentioned amount to the state budget.

Besides, 78-year-old former leader of Adjara is found guilty of issuing the order to blow up bridges over the Choloki and Kakuti Rivers in 2004, the "News-Georgia" reports with reference to the press service of the Batumi City Court.

The Court has ordered Aslan Abashidze to pay the family members of Nodar Imnadze compensation for moral damage in the amount of 100,000 laris (about 43,000 US dollars), the "Georgia-Online" reports.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.