Court of Appeal to announce verdict in Nika Gvaramia case tomorrow

Tomorrow the panel of judges will announce the verdict in the criminal case of the founder of the Mtavari Arkhi (Main Channel) TV company Nika Gvaramia, Kakhaber Damenia and Zurab Iashvili.

Nika Gvaramia’s lawyer Beka Basilaya told IPN that the verdict was announced at 11:00 am.

Recall that the panel of judges came out to consult to make a decision on this case on October 24.

For reference, the decision of the Tbilisi City Court was appealed by both the prosecution and the defense. Lawyers are demanding an acquittal, and the prosecutor’s office is demanding that Nika Gvaramia and Zurab Iashvili be found guilty on all counts.

The court of first instance found Nika Gvaria and Kakhaber Damenia guilty, and Zurab Iashvili not guilty.

The court found Nika Gvaramia partially guilty, reclassifying part of the articles against him to Article 220 of the Criminal Code and sentenced him to 3 years and 6 months in prison. Nika Gvaramia was convicted on two counts of abuse of power. Kakha Damenia was fined 50,000 lari. Zurab Iashvili was found not guilty.

On September 6, 2020, the Prosecutor General’s Office filed charges in the Rustavi 2 case against the former general director of the TV company Nika Gvaramia, as well as the former financial director of Rustavi 2 Kakha Damenia and the director of Intermedia Plus Zurab Iashvili.

Nika Gvaramia was accused of embezzlement of property rights belonging to Rustavi 2 TV company on a large scale, which was committed by a group of persons by prior agreement, commercial bribery, production of forged official documents, legalization of illegal income. Gvaramia was also accused of abuse of power. As a preventive measure, he was given a bail of 40,000 lari. In addition, he was forbidden to leave the country.

Investigators accused Kakha Damenia of illegal embezzlement of property rights belonging to Rustavi 2 TV company on a large scale, which was committed by a group of persons by prior agreement using their official position. As a preventive measure, he was given a bail of 50,000 lari. Also, he was forbidden to leave the country without informing and consenting to the investigating authority.

As for Zurab Iashvili, he was accused of commercial bribery, production and use of forged official documents. As a preventive measure, he was given a bail of 50,000 lari.