{"id":1784,"date":"2019-07-18T19:09:51","date_gmt":"2019-07-18T18:09:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rcstaging.co.uk\/ehrac\/?p=1784"},"modified":"2021-04-02T21:24:54","modified_gmt":"2021-04-02T20:24:54","slug":"justice-delayed-is-justice-denied-georgias-9-year-delay-in-investigating-murder-of-two-men-by-police-officers-was-in-breach-of-the-convention","status":"publish","type":[30],"link":"http:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/justice-delayed-is-justice-denied-georgias-9-year-delay-in-investigating-murder-of-two-men-by-police-officers-was-in-breach-of-the-convention\/","title":{"rendered":"Justice delayed is justice denied: Georgia\u2019s 9 year delay in investigating murder of two men by police officers was in breach of the Convention"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t
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The applicants in the case are Mr Yuri\u00a0Vazagashvili and Ms\u00a0Tsiala Shanava, parents of Z.V., a 22-year-old man, shot in his car during a police operation in the centre of Tbilisi in 2006. ZV was killed when more than 70 shots were \u00a0fired in the direction of his car, at close range, and despite the fact that the passengers had not fired at the police officers or posed a threat to them.\u00a0On 18 July 2019,\u00a0the European Court held<\/a>\u00a0that the Georgian court\u2019s prosecution and conviction of the officers was not an adequate remedy for Z.V.\u2019s murder, and found violations of the Georgian State\u2019s obligations to respect the right to life (Article 2 ECHR). The applicants were represented by EHRAC and the Georgian Young Lawyers\u2019 Association.<\/p>\n

What happened in Tbilisi on 2 May 2006?<\/strong><\/p>\n

On 2 May 2006, Z.V. was driving in a car with two of his friends, when they were ambushed by police officers in a busy part of the city. A person in civilian clothes armed with a pistol approached\u00a0 the car and attempted to open the front door, and, upon failing to do so, started shooting at the passengers with no prior warning. After Z.V., the driver, attempted to flee in a car and crashed, five policemen, armed with machine guns started firing at the vehicle. Two shots were fired from a close range at Z.V. and the passenger in the front seat, killing them. More than 70 shots were fired in total, with about 40 bullets hitting the car. The third passenger of the car had multiple wounds, but survived.<\/p>\n

How was the investigation conducted?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nine years after the events in question, the Georgian courts convicted the five police officers of murder, malfeasance, fabrication of evidence, and unlawful arrest, having found that the sole aim of the operation was to assassinate the passengers of Z.V.\u2019s car. The officers were given less than the maximum sentences, which were then reduced by way of amnesty.<\/p>\n

Aside from the length of time it took to prosecute the officers, the \u00a0investigation culminating in their conviction was flawed, for example: it involved \u00a0the Ministry of Interior official who had participated in the operation; the forensic examination was directly contradicted by the witness evidence; and the applicants were denied an opportunity to effectively participate in the proceedings, having not been granted victim status.<\/p>\n

Partly driven by the lack of adequate action by the Georgian authorities, Z.V.\u2019s father, and the first applicant in the case before the European Court, took it upon himself to advocate for justice for his son\u2019s killing, which in the Court\u2019s words \u201cbecame\u00a0one of the most\u00a0well-known\u00a0and scandalous\u00a0examples of police abuse<\/em>\u201d. \u00a0In January 2015, Z.V.\u2019s father was murdered, \u00a0by an improvised explosive device found (by the Georgian courts) to have been planted on Z.V.\u2019s grave by a police officer.<\/p>\n

Findings of the European \u00a0Court<\/strong><\/p>\n

The European Court concluded, on the basis of the Georgian court\u2019s conviction of the officers, that it was \u201ccrystal clear\u201d the killing of Z.V. by State agents was attributable to the Georgian State under Article 2 ECHR.<\/p>\n

The Court also held \u00a0that the Georgian investigation into Z.V\u2019s murder<\/p>\n

\n\u201cmanifestly lacked the requisite thoroughness, objectivity and, as was subsequently\u00a0revealed\u00a0by the results of the reopened investigation, integrity.\u201d<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Even though the investigation ultimately led to in the officers\u2019 conviction, the nine-year delay meant that this did not constitute sufficient redress for the applicants as\u00a0\u201cjustice delayed is\u00a0often justice denied\u201d.\u00a0<\/em>Further, the Court found that the sentencing of the perpetrators was not adequate for ensuring an effective investigation into killings by state agents, underling that<\/p>\n

\n\u201cthe Court expects States to be all the more stringent when punishing their own law-enforcement officers for the commission of such serious life\u2011endangering crimes than they are with ordinary offenders, because what is at stake is not only the issue of the individual criminal-law liability of the perpetrators but also the State\u2019s duty to combat the sense of impunity the offenders may consider they enjoy by virtue of their\u00a0very\u00a0office,\u00a0and to maintain public confidence in and respect for the law-enforcement system<\/em>\u201d.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Accordingly, the Court also found a breach of the Georgian State\u2019s procedural obligations under Article 2 ECHR.<\/p>\n

The Court awarded the surviving applicant, Z.V.\u2019s mother, 50 000 EUR in non-pecuniary damages, in view of her \u201cintense distress and frustration\u201d on account of her son\u2019s murder by State agents and \u201cthe failure to conduct a timely investigation leading to the adequate punishment\u00a0of all those responsible\u201d.<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The applicants in the case are Mr Yuri\u00a0Vazagashvili and Ms\u00a0Tsiala Shanava, parents of Z.V., a 22-year-old man, shot in his car during a police operation in the centre of Tbilisi...","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"country":[38],"theme":[27],"class_list":["post-1784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-uncategorised","country-georgia","theme-abuses-by-security-forces-and-law-enforcement","type-case-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJustice delayed is justice denied: Georgia\u2019s 9 year delay in investigating murder of two men by police officers was in breach of the Convention - 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