Why today and not, let’s say, 9 months ago? Because 9 months ago, Giorgi Malania’s name was not even mentioned in the Giga Avaliani case. There was no evidence against him – It is possible that new potential defendants will be identified in the separated case, against whom we will start prosecution, — this was stated by the prosecutor in the murdered teacher’s case, Ketevan Sonidze, to journalists, thereby explaining why the son of the former Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Merab Malania, Giorgi Malania, was not detained until now in the murdered teacher’s case.

As the prosecutor told journalists, the court granted the prosecution’s motion and imposed pre-trial detention as a measure of restraint on Giorgi Malania in the teacher’s murder case.

According to Ketevan Sonidze’s explanation, the prosecution had indicated in the motion not only the risk of hiding, but also the risks of committing a new crime and illegally influencing evidence.

“As for the risk of hiding, we talked a lot about this. He was in Lanchkhuti, he was moving around with a backpack, and there was an assumption that he was planning to hide, and it was precisely on the basis of this operational information that he was detained. Also, as for the risk of illegally influencing evidence, the investigation is still ongoing. It is possible that new potential defendants will be identified in the separated case, against whom a decision may be made in the future and we will start prosecution. So that no agreement is reached with these potential defendants, no information is changed, distorted, deleted, etc., or even illegal influence is exerted, we also pointed to this risk in our motion.

As for the risk of committing a new crime, naturally, no one will attack a person who has already been killed again, or we do not mean other violent actions in the risk of committing a new crime; we mean this risk as the risk of committing a crime against the administration of justice. That is, it is possible that illegal influence may be exerted on evidence, and this in itself is the risk of committing a new crime,” Ketevan Sonidze stated.

According to Ketevan Sonidze’s explanation, in total, final decisions have already been made against 7 persons in the Avaliani case, and Giorgi Malania is the 8th person who has been held accountable in this case.

As for the question of whether there is a probability that Nia Imnadze will be summoned by the investigation as a witness, as the prosecutor noted, if the interests of the investigation require it and they have specific questions for Nia Imnadze, her summons does not constitute any problem, and “in such a case, they will definitely be summoned and questioned.”

“The investigation continues; all the information we have obtained so far has already been studied, but we are still waiting for other information. An international request for assistance has been sent to META, and we are waiting for a response from there. Based on this recovered information, it is possible that we will make a final decision regarding different persons. I am not speaking specifically about Nia Imnadze; I am speaking in general that the investigation may lead us to other logical results and other persons,” Ketevan Sonidze stated.

For information: The son of the former Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Merab Malania, Giorgi Malania, has been charged under Article 25, Part 3 (l) of Article 117 of the Criminal Code of Georgia (aiding and abetting the intentional infliction of serious bodily injury in a group), which provides for imprisonment of up to 13 years. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, with the help of Giorgi Malania, who was Giga Avaliani’s student, Aleksandre Gabashvili, Giorgi Rikadze, and Demetre Chikovani found out the addresses of his [Giga Avaliani’s] work and residence, studied his work schedule and the route he took from work to home. They selected the place for the execution of their intention and began surveillance. On October 1, 2025, according to the plan developed by Aleksandre Gabashvili, Giorgi Rikadze, and Demetre Chikovani, Aleksandre Gabashvili and Giorgi Rikadze attacked Giga Avaliani in a group, as a result of which he sustained serious bodily injury and died on October 24, 2025, in a medical facility.

For the commission of the above-mentioned crimes, Aleksandre Gabashvili, Giorgi Rikadze, and Demetre Chikovani have already been convicted.