Eight days after a man died of injuries sustained while in police custody in Khashuri police station, the Interior Ministry announced about sacking of the local police chief for a failure to secure “safety norms” in the police building in Khashuri.

While the police treat Solomon (Soso) Kimeridze’s death as an accident resulting after he “fell over the handrail into a foyer of the police station’s first floor” when going downstairs from the third floor of the building, allegations persist that Kimeridze could have died as a result of mistreatment by the police.

The Interior Ministry said on March 6, that chief of Khashuri police, Giorgi Kharshildze, was dismissed “in connection to the death of Solomon Kimeridze during an accident in the police building on February 27.” It said that the decision to sack the local police chief was taken because “safety norms” were not in place in the police building.

Citing “a preliminary finding” of the National Forensics Bureau, the chief prosecutor’s office, which is investigating the case, said in a statement on March 6, that “no signs of beating and torture” were visible on Kimeridze’s body and his death was caused by injuries sustained as a result of falling from height.