Three Charged Amid Media Reports About Discovering ‘Surgical Waste’ Dump in Samtredia

2026-02-27 - 12:35

Three persons have been charged with violating the rules for handling environmentally hazardous substances, the prosecutor’s office announced on February 26, shortly after media reported about locals in Melauri village of Samtredia municipality, Western Georgia, discovering a “surgical waste” dump allegedly containing amputated human body parts. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the investigation found that a director of two companies – Eco Medical Group and Ecology and Clean Environment – “set up an illegal hazardous waste storage facility in an abandoned building in the city of Samtredia, where a large quantity of medical waste hazardous to human health and the environment was temporarily stored.” The prosecutors did not specify the nature or origins of the hazardous waste. The director, Elguja Kikacheishvili, along with an employee of the same company and an employee of the Municipal Improvement and Services Center, have been arrested and sent to pre-trial detention. The statement of the prosecutor’s office came on February 26, hours after TV Pirveli reported that locals in Melauri village found in a building on an abandoned farm a dump containing what the channel said were human body parts. The report featured blurred images of the alleged dump, showing men wearing medical masks as they worked in the area. “Surgical waste is scattered around, the entire farm is filled with surgical waste, and there is a big epidemic threat [...],” a local man is seen telling the channel, noting that the waste “has been lying there for more than a month, from what we know.” According to TV Pirveli, residents first became alarmed by a strong odor in the area and later “accidentally discovered human bones, which were dragged out by dogs.” The channel, citing local residents, suggested that the remains originated from local clinics and that the area had not been cleaned despite multiple notifications, until a TV crew arrived at the scene. RFE/RL’s Georgian Service later reported that the three suspects had been detained for more than two weeks; however, the outlet said, the medical waste had not yet been removed from the site. Also Read: 01/12/2025 – BBC Investigation: Georgian Authorities May Have Used WWI-Era Chemical During 2024 Protests