21 July 2020, 18:20
Court of Appeal upholds verdict in case on schoolchildren's murder in Tbilisi
In Tbilisi, the Court of Appeal has upheld the verdict against Mikhail Kalandiya, who was sentenced to a long term of imprisonment in the case on the murder of two schoolchildren. Relatives of Mikhail Kalandiya intend to appeal against the court's decision.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 25, the Tbilisi City Court found Mikhail Kalandiya guilty of murdering the schoolchildren and sentenced him to 11 years and three months of imprisonment. In the verdict, the court sentenced Mikhail Kalandiya to 15 years of imprisonment, but reduced the sentence under the Juvenile Justice Code, since Mikhail Kalandiya was a minor at the time of the crime. The defence decided to appeal against the verdict.
On December 1, 2017, two teenagers were killed in as a result of a fight near a school in Tbilisi. On May 31, 2018, a court partially acquitted two teenagers accused of the murder. On June 1, 2019, the court sentenced one of the above teenagers to 10.5 years of imprisonment, and the other to 9 years and 9 months of imprisonment. The verdict provoked mass protests in the country, and the court increased the sentence of both convicts up to 11 years and 3 months of imprisonment. Mikhail Kalandiya, who had been earlier involved in the case as a witness, was also detained as a suspect.
Today, the Court of Appeal has upheld the verdict against Mikhail Kalandiya. According to Luka, a brother of Mikhail Kalandiya, the relatives of the defendant intend to challenge the above court's decision in the Supreme Court (SC) of Georgia and, if necessary, in the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). "We will continue to fight. No one is going to stop. We don't want Mikhail to be kept in prison for more than 11 years. An innocent person should not be kept in prison," the brother of Mikhail Kalandiya said.
Zurab Todua, an advocate of Mikhail Kalandiya, expressed his concern that judges had been under pressure.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 21, 2020 at 01:04 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Inna Kukudzhanova Source: CK correspondent
