Beka Jaiani, accused of murder of transgender woman Kesaria Abramidze, sentenced to life imprisonment

The court found Beka Jaiani, accused of the murder of transgender woman Kesaria Abramidze, guilty of all charges and sentenced him to life imprisonme

The decision was made by Tbilisi City Court Judge Nino Galustashvili.

With this decision, Galustashvili fully granted the prosecutor's motion.

According to Galustashvili's verdict, Jaiani was found guilty of both murder with particular cruelty committed on the basis of gender, as well as systematic beatings motivated by intolerance on the basis of gender identity.

Defendant Beka Jaiani did not attend the announcement of the verdict; he was procedurally supposed to make his final statement at today's hearing. However, he did not attend the trial.

As Judge Nino Galustashvili noted, Jaiani sent a letter in which the accused indicated that he did not appear at the hearing due to his psycho-emotional state and that regrets his actions.

Jaiani partially admits guilt, disagreeing with neither the murder with special cruelty, gender-based murder, nor the systematic beating.

For information, 26-year-old Beka Jaiani, accused of the murder with special cruelty, gender-based murder of a 37-year-old transgender woman, Kesaria Abramidze, was arrested in the vicinity of Kutaisi Airport.

He was charged under Article 109, Subsections “t” and “m” and Article 126, Part 1, Second Part, of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which pertains to premeditated murder committed with special cruelty on the grounds of gender and systematic beating on the grounds of intolerance due to gender identity.

The crime carries a sentence of 16 to 20 years or life imprisonment.