TBILISI, September 6 – Prosecutors in Georgia have reopened the case of an assumed suicide of a political activist, after new claims by jailed former prime minister Irakli Garibashvili.
In a letter from prison this week, Garibashvili asked what the real cause of Lazare Jorbenadze’s death had been and said unanswered questions remained around several suicides during the period associated with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and former senior official Mamuka Mdinaradze.
Garibashvili also said that on February 12, acting on instructions from Kobakhidze and Mdinaradze, someone brought him a February 2 issue of the newspaper Asaval-Dasavali containing an interview with Jorbenadze focused largely on criticism of Kobakhidze and serious allegations against him, Interpressnews reported.
The claims triggered a new round of questioning by investigators. Prosecutor Medea Tsiramua said on Thursday that Garibashvili himself told investigators he had no direct information about Jorbenadze’s death and that what he had raised was based on circulating rumors. Prosecutors said evidence gathered from family members and Jorbenadze’s wife confirmed suicide.
A number of politicians, journalists and commentators who publicly raised questions about the case were also called for questioning. Prosecutors later said several of them had no firsthand information and had learned about Jorbenadze through Garibashvili’s letter.
Opposition figures questioned why Kobakhidze and Mdinaradze had not themselves been summoned. Prosecutors said there was no need at this stage because Garibashvili had provided no concrete information implicating specific individuals.
On Saturday, Jorbenadze’s friend Giorgi Liluashvili told reporters after questioning that he did not believe Jorbenadze had killed himself. He said Jorbenadze had shown no signs of psychological problems and had been making plans shortly before his death.
Liluashvili also alleged that Jorbenadze had obtained video and audio recordings related to the Georgian Patriarch’s medical monitoring and intended to make them public shortly before he died.
A ruling-party lawmaker, Irakli Kadagishvili, accused opposition figures of using Garibashvili’s letter to push a coordinated political narrative, while backing the prosecution’s decision to carry out additional investigative steps.
