Sentence toughened for Tbilisi resident who killed transgender

After a retrial of Levan Kochlashvili, a resident of Tbilisi, accused of murdering a transgender person in 2014, the Supreme Court (SC) of Georgia sentenced him to 10 years of imprisonment, General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) of Georgia reported on January 3.

The first sentence was passed by the Tbilisi City Court to the 26-year-old Levan Kochlashvili in August 2015: the court found him guilty only of beating up the transgender Sabi (Becky) Beriani and sentenced him to 4 years in prison; the transgender died in November 2014.

That sentence was appealed against at the Georgia's SC; and based on the new evidence, presented by the GPO, Kochlashvili was found guilty of beating up, murder and arson; as a result he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The GPO managed to prove that on November 10, 2014, Kochlashvili first beat up in the street the transgender Bianca Shigurova, and then came to the apartment rented by Sabi Beriani, where they had a quarrel. According to the prosecutors, Kochlashvili first seriously injured Beriani, and then set the flat on fire to hide the traces of his crime. Beriani died on the spot from injuries even before the fire captured the apartment, the "Georgia-Online" reports today with reference to the message of the GPO of Georgia.

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