The United States has raised the issue of the Sandro Girgvliani high-profile murder case privately with the Georgian government, the Associated Press reported on July 6.

"It has been our position to make quite clear to the government that we expect no cover-ups and that those who are responsible should be brought to justice," John Tefft, the U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, told by the Associated Press last week.

The Tbilisi City Court found four former officers from the Interior Ministry’s Department for Constitutional Security guilty of inflicting bodily harm that led to death of Sandro Girgvliani on January 28, 2005. One officer was sentenced to eight-year imprisonment and others to seven years.

But relatives of the victim, as well as opposition parties and human right groups allege that the crime was ordered by higher level officials after dispute with the victim in the Tbilisi’s downtown café.