Georgia arrests 3 ex-Interior Ministry staff in Khaduri death case

Georgia’s Prosecutor’s Office said on 11 November that three former Interior Ministry employees had been arrested over alleged false information and abuse of official powers in the investigation into the death of Temur Khaduri, a 23-year-old altar server.

Khaduri’s body was found in a riverbed near Simoneti on 28 August 2024, three days after he disappeared while traveling from Tbilisi to Kutaisi. His family has alleged that police killed him and sought a renewed investigation; the cause and exact time of his death remain undetermined.

Prosecutors said two detainees face allegations of providing false information, while the third faces allegations of both providing false information and abusing official powers. The allegations concern the handling of the investigation, rather than an allegation that the detainees killed Khaduri. The alleged offenses carry a prison sentence of up to six years.

The encounter and the records

Prosecutors said Khaduri threw stones at vehicles near the Simoneti turn-off on 25 August 2024, damaging several, including a police vehicle driven by the deputy head of the Tkibuli Police Department. The deputy head of the Terjola Police Division and an investigator arrived after the incident was reported.

The officers tried to detain Khaduri, who disobeyed their orders and fled, prosecutors said. They said officers fired three shots into the air during the pursuit but did not apprehend him.

Prosecutors allege the officers left the attempted detention, pursuit and gunshots out of their interview records to avoid possible disciplinary and other legal consequences. They said the omissions prevented the case from being transferred to another investigative body and substantially hindered justice. They also allege that the investigator knowingly entered false information into a witness’s interview record, undermining the public interest in a full and objective investigation.

The family’s questions

In an investigation aired in March 2025, TV Pirveli said a forensic examination could not establish the cause or exact time of death. The examination found bruising around Khaduri’s eyes and eyelids caused by a blunt object several minutes before he died, while he was still alive, the channel said.

TV Pirveli said farm surveillance footage showed a police pickup arriving in an uninhabited area near Simoneti on the night Khaduri disappeared. Officers searched with flashlights and left about six minutes later; the location was around 300 meters from the river where his body was found. The channel also said police-station recordings that could have captured the operation had disappeared.

Khaduri’s mother, Nino Gvishiani, suspects police severely beat her son and dumped his body in the river. The family’s lawyer, Ledi Tukvadze, welcomed the arrests and thanked prosecutors and investigative journalists, Civil.ge said.

The allegations and what comes next

Tukvadze identified the detainees as the former deputy police chiefs of Terjola and Tkibuli and an investigator. She said one was still a serving police officer. Prosecutors described all three as former Interior Ministry employees.

In an earlier account on 11 November, Tukvadze said the allegations fell under Article 370(2) of Georgia’s Criminal Code, concerning false testimony and interference with evidence for personal motives. She said formal charges had not yet been presented and anticipated more serious allegations, including an additional abuse-of-powers charge against one detainee. Prosecutors subsequently announced the false-information and abuse-of-powers allegations.

Tukvadze said the family wants the detained officers to cooperate with investigators so they can establish what happened, what caused Khaduri’s death and why false testimony was given.