The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia filed charges against persons arrested in the case of Vake Park tragedy. The relevant statement was made at a briefing at the General Prosecutor’s Office.

“The Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia expresses its condolences to the family, relatives and friends of Marita Meparishvili due to the gravest tragic incident in Vake Park.

At the initial stage of the investigation, charges were filed against the deputy head of Environmental Protection Service of Tbilisi City Hall, the director of Greenservice+ LLC, the contractor of the same company and one employee, the subcontractor firm of Greenservice + LLC - New Metal Design representative, two craftsmen hired by New Metal Design and the director and expert of Mshen-expert LLC.

2 criminal episodes were identified within the ongoing investigation at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. First: on October 22, 2021, between the Service of Environmental Protection of the City Hall and Greenservice+, an agreement on state procurement was signed, the subject of which was the rehabilitation works of fountains and cascades in the area of ​​Vake Park.

On August 26, 2022, the parties signed an act of acceptance and handover, by which the Environmental Protection Service of the City Hall accepted the works performed on the central fountain.

After this, in September 2022, despite the fact that the rehabilitation works on the central fountain were completed, the deputy head of the Environmental Protection Service of the City Hall, the project manager of Greenservice+ verbally requested that some additional works be carried out on the central fountain, namely wrapping the black water pipes connected to the electric motor with stainless white tin material.

The project manager of Greenservice+ informed the director of Greenservice+ about this, and on his instructions, the mentioned work was ordered to the representative of the subcontractor firm New Metal Design.

The latter, in turn, assigned the work to 2 craftsmen hired by New Metal Design. The supervision and control of the work was to be carried out by the contractor of Greenservice+.

On September 22, in the morning, the above-mentioned craftsmen arrived at the central fountain, brought the wrapping tin material and started working on it.

In the course of the work, they violated the safety norms of the work production - in order to fit the stainless tin on the water pipes, they removed the metal grid for wrapping the electric motor, and when fixing it back, they inserted a high-voltage electric cable between the concrete surface and the metal grid. Because of this, the insulation of the electric cable was damaged and the current leaked into the water.

The director of Greenservice+ presented the completed work to the City Service without conducting an appropriate inspection, and the deputy head of the Environmental Protection Service of the City Hall accepted the said work without an appropriate inspection.

The representative of the subcontractor firm of Greenservice+ did not verify the work performed by the craftsmen hired by them. The producer of the works of Greenservice+ did not provide appropriate control over the said activity.

If the mentioned persons had performed their duties properly, the fact of damage to the electric wire would have been detected and the result would have been avoided.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs continues to investigate the criminal case. Hundreds of investigative and procedural actions have been conducted, the persons in contact with the case have been interrogated, material evidence has been removed during the inspection of the accident site, and important documentation for the case has also been removed during the investigation. Various types of examinations have been appointed, which should answer as to whether the drawn up project and the actually performed works were in accordance with the work safety norms stipulated by the current legislation. Thus, all persons, by whom the fact of committing a crime is confirmed, will be held criminally responsible.

The Prosecutor’s Office will apply to the court within the time limit set by the law with a motion to use imprisonment as a restraining measure against all 9 persons”.