Patriarch’s deacon detained on charges of preparing assassination

Georgian Prosecutor’s Office detained deacon Giorgi Mamaladze on charges of preparing an assassination.

Investigation began on February 2, 2017, on the basis of the information received from one of the citizens. An unnamed person had addresses the prosecutor’s office, saying that his acquaintance, a cleric named Giorgi Mamaladze, had asked him to help find a venomous substance – cyanide. The same unnamed person had told the prosecutor’s office that Mamaladze, as he had found out, was preparing assassination of a high-ranking cleric.

The investigators have found out that Giorgi Mamaladze was indeed looking for cyanide and was ready to pay a considerable sum of money for it. Besides, he had promised the person in question that he would further receive more profit for his assistance. Mamaladze allegedly needed the mentioned venomous substance before his scheduled flight to Germany, where the Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia had been taken for treatment to one of the hospitals.

According to the evidences, deacon Giorgi Mamaladze, who is the Director General of the Georgian Patriarchate’s Saint Joachim and Ana Medical Center, had systematic contacts with Georgia’s highest-ranking religious person and his encirclement. The investigators have found out so far that Giorgi Mamaladze was preparing assassination of one of the persons and it was with this purpose that he was looking for cyanide, which is a venomous substance that leads to inevitable death if consumed by a human being.

On February 10, 2017, Giorgi Mamaladze was detained at the Tbilisi International Airport, before he could board the plane that would take him to Germany. After checking his baggage, the investigators found the abovementioned venomous substance – sodium cyanide.

At the same time, a handmade gun and 6 cartridges were found at Mamaladze’s house, which were purchased illegally and had been keeping at his apartment.

Based on the evidences gathered so far, the Prosecutor’s Office is working on several versions intensively.

On February 12, on the basis of the Prosecutor’s motion, Giorgi Mamaladze was sentenced to the pre-trial detention.

The investigation is underway according to the paragraphs 18-108 and 236 that envisage seven to fifteen years of imprisonment.

As for the Patriarch, he was successfully operated today and his condition is stable.