Father of Georgian football player accused of murder stops his hunger strike

Tamaz Khomasuridze considered further continuation of his hunger strike senseless, because his request for a polygraph test for his son, accused of murdering the football player Giorgi Shakarashvili, was ignored.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 18, Tamaz Khomasuridze went on a hunger strike in front of the building of the General Prosecutor's Office of Georgia. The man insisted that his son was not involved in the murder of Giorgi Shakarashvili. The protester threatened to resort to more drastic measures and commit suicide if his son was not tested on a polygraph and if the public prosecutor was not removed from the case.

On June 18, Giorgi Shakarashvili, a 19-year-old student of the Tbilisi "Saburtalo" FC's academy, was attacked on a highway and killed. According to investigators, Giorgi Shakarashvili was severely beaten with a stick, stones, and fists, kicked, and then thrown into the Aragvi River, where he drowned. The police detained 17 people back on June 27. Of them, five are accused of the wilful murder, and other 12 – of organizing and participating in collective violence.

Tamaz Khomasuridze, the father of one of the suspects accused of the murder of Giorgi Shakarashvili, stopped his hunger strike, which he declared in the evening on August 18. He also called on his son to stop his hunger strike too. Tamaz Khomasuridze explains he stopped his hunger strike, because the General Prosecutor's Office did not take into account his request, the news agency "InterPressNews" reports today.

Tamaz Khomasuridze claims he will ensure that his son passes a polygraph test at his own expense, the website of the Georgian Office of Radio Liberty reports. It was also reported that two other suspects accused of the murder declared the beginning of their hunger strike.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 21, 2020 at 01:26 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.