Monday, October 29, 2007, #206 (1473)

Jailed ex-Interior Ministry officer commits suicide
By Anna Kamushadze

A jailed former Interior Ministry officer, linked to the murder of an energy company executive, reportedly committed suicide on October 25.

Prison Department officials say Davit Kekua, who was awaiting trial, hung himself in his prison cell with a bed sheet. An investigation is underway.

Kekua’s family, however, insists that he did not kill himself. He was the victim of political revenge for an incident involving the brother of a high ranking majority MP, they told news media the day after his death.

They say their priest visited Kekua three days ago, and noticed nothing to suggest he was suicidal.

The 43-year-old Kekua, a one-time police chief and high-ranking Interior Ministry officer, was arrested in May 2007 for allegedly forging evidence in the investigation into the 2002 murder of Nika Lominadze, financial director for American-owned natural gas distributor AES-Telasi.

According to his mother-in-law, Kekua wanted to meet with Elene Tevdoradze, chair of the parliamentary Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee, several days before his death. His family advised him not to speak to her in detail about his situation, fearing for his safety if he did.

Salome Makharadze, spokeswoman for the Prison Department, responded by saying there is video footage of Kekua’s suicide.

There are about 100 surveillance cameras installed in the prison Kekua was in, she said, and prison guards are not able to keep an eye on all of them at once—so nobody saw Kekua hanging himself in time to intervene.

“I saw [footage] where Kekua is hanging himself with a sheet. So far we can’t release this material. They’re terrible images, and we don’t have the right to release it without agreement from investigators and Kekua’s family,” Makharadze said.
 
Kekua’s body was transferred to the Prison Department for an examination, then sent home to his family.

The examination results have not been released.
Kekua’s case was slated for a court hearing no later than February 2, 2008, in keeping with regulations requiring a hearing within a certain time frame.
“Judge Tariel Tabatadze was to hear Kekua’s case, but he had more important and urgent cases with [time limits for a hearing] about to expire, so Kekua’s case was [postponed],” a Tbilisi court representative explained to news agency Interpressnews.

Tevdoradze, the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee chair, said she was unsatisfied with the process following Kekua’s death.

“Kekua’s family wanted his attorney to attend the [examination of his body], but when I decided to inform prosecutors about this no one answered my phone calls,” Tevdoradze told Interpressnews.

Rustavi 2 reported that two family members were present at the examination of Kekua’s body, carried out the day he died.

Tevdoradze was openly skeptical about the official cause of death. Prisoners who commit suicide generally do so shortly after being arrested, she said.

“Why did Kekua kill himself after six months, I wonder,” Tevdoradze asked.

The Ministry of Justice is now ready to carry out a second examination of Kekua’s body, pending approval from his family.

Kekua’s former attorney, Eka Beselia, put blame for his death at the feet of Prison Department chief Bacho Akhalaia and the prison warden. The surveillance system is there for a reason, she told news media.

“Prison administration must use the CCTV monitors to control situations like this. Akhalaia and the head of [the prison] are responsible for this,” Beselia declared. She went on to repeat doubts about the nature of Kekua’s death.

“It’s under question whether he really hanged himself or not,” she said.



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