Social media users doubted lawyer Chigladze's version about the tourists' insurance fraud.
Lasha Kapanadze's version, who is the lawyer of Georgy Chigladze, that the tourists could have provoked the conflict for the sake of an insurance payout, seems questionable, as travel policies primarily cover medical expenses, and the lawyer did not provide evidence supporting the described scheme, users of social media pointed out.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", Georgy Chigladze's lawyer published footage from the hotel cameras in Telavi. The video from the Agarani Estate hotel confirms that water was poured on the wedding participants, although the Russian-speaking tourists with whom they had a conflict denied this.
Lawyer Lasha Kapanadze stated that among Russian tourists, there is a widespread practice of insurance fraud abroad. In his version, tourists obtain insurance in their country, and on the way to another country, provoke a conflict and illegal actions against themselves, become victims in a criminal case, and then, upon returning to their country, receive large sums from the insurance fund.
Commentators demanded evidence from Lasha Kapanadze
Two posts on the "Caucasian Knot" Facebook page*, dedicated to the beating of a tourist in Telavi, collectively garnered 650 reactions from users and 2290 comments. Some users demanded evidence that the scheme described by the lawyer is indeed widespread among Russian tourists. They also doubted the possibility of receiving a payout solely based on an attack and acquiring victim status.
"There is no such insurance. There is only medical insurance. Medical expenses are covered," wrote Alexey Vetrov.
"How widespread is this practice among Russian tourists? How many cases have there been over a unit of time, that is, over what period? Evidence?" asked Olga Tolpygina.
"They took a long time to think of what to come up with," wrote Guzel Sayonaru.
Users doubted that liquid could have reached the wedding participants from the balcony due to the awning located beneath it.
"Where in the video does it show that this is indeed that day, and where are these tourists?" asked Valeria Rubtsova.
"Why is the awning over the porch under the balcony not shown in the video? It would be impossible to pour something on the guests there, even if you wanted to," wrote Ashot Gabrielyan.
"Why wasn't the video provided immediately? Why didn't the investigation find any liquid on the equipment if there was enough to damage it? Where is it shown that the guests' reaction is related to the tourists' behavior?" wrote Alla Augustinovich.
Some users suggested that the tourists might have disrupted the order but emphasized that the wedding participants should have contacted the police.
"Still, it shouldn't have been hit like that. His strength and her strength are different. The law enforcement should have been called if the tourists violated something," wrote Maria Kravtsova.
"Even if this is true, her actions qualify at most as petty hooliganism <…>. Beating and causing serious harm to health is a different article; one should think before resorting to violence," stated Natalie Ivanova.
Other commentators stated that the tourists should be held accountable if they doused the wedding participants and damaged the musical equipment.
"Why was she released? She should have been punished, made to pay a fine for the damaged musical instrument, and punished for disrupting the wedding altogether," wrote Anna Chikhvariya.
"I do not condone violence. There are many guests in Georgia, and their behavior spoils the rest for everyone else," stated user Lali Lll.
The conditions of Russian insurers contradict Kapanadze's version
An examination of the conditions of the four largest Russian insurers working with travel policies did not confirm that recognizing a tourist as a victim in a criminal case in itself grants the right to an insurance payout. SOGAZ, "AlfaStrakhovanie", "Ingosstrakh", and "RESO-Guarantee" primarily provide compensation for medical expenses abroad. A separate cash payment for injury is possible if accident insurance is additionally included in the policy.
The amount of such payment depends on the nature of the injury and the insured sum. Police documents or materials from the criminal case may be required to confirm the circumstances of the attack; however, the procedural status of the victim is not an insured event. It is indeed possible to apply for compensation after returning to Russia, but the injury must have occurred during the policy's validity and be confirmed by medical documents.
"Insurance cases are recognized as events that are a direct consequence of an accident: the death of the insured, physical injury (wound), permanent loss of ability to work," the insurance rules published on the "RESO-Guarantee" website state.
The insurers' rules exclude intentional actions aimed at causing an insured event, as well as illegal actions related to the incident by the insured themselves. Thus, receiving a payout for a real injury after returning from a trip is possible, but the scheme described by lawyer Lasha Kapanadze involving intentional provocation of an attack contradicts the insurance conditions. The claim about the prevalence of such a practice is also not supported by the policy conditions.