The pain of losing a child is unfathomable to any parent. But for Viviane Wagner, 34, and José Melero Filho, 37—Joviane's mother and stepfather—grief is compounded by frustration. Gueorgui Makharadze, 35, the man who police say caused the accident that killed their daughter, is a high-ranking Georgian diplomat and, like 18,000 other foreign representatives in the United States, immune from prosecution. Police reportedly smelled alcohol on Makharadze's breath that night but, spotting his diplomatic ID, did not even request a breath test.
The principle of diplomatic immunity has changed little since ancient times; the arrangement, in theory, protects foreign envoys from being persecuted at the whim of hostile host governments. But these days, critics say, diplomats around the world often hide behind immunity to dodge everything from parking fines to rape charges. The U.S. attorney's office says it has "ample evidence" to prosecute Makharadze. But unless the Republic of Georgia takes the rare step of waiving his diplomatic status, the U.S. can only expel him from the country. "It has reached a point," says lawyer David Richin, who is representing Joviane's parents, "where diplomats can get away with murder."
Friends at the Georgian embassy describe Makharadze—who emerged from the wreck without serious injury—as a quiet, diligent bachelor who wasn't a heavy drinker and is distraught over the accident. A pianist and soccer player, he was an adviser to Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze before joining the embassy in the post of economics officer two years ago. "He had great potential within the diplomatic corps," says a coworker. "He was on his way to a top position." Now, even if he escapes prosecution, his future as a diplomat is uncertain. Meanwhile, Makharadze and the Georgian government—which has hired President Bill Clinton's personal attorney Robert Bennett—have apologized to Joviane's family, and the Republic paid for her funeral.
Such gestures are unlikely to console Melero Filho, 37, an auto electrician who just six months ago moved his young family from Sao Leopoldo, Brazil, to a neat townhouse in Kensington so that Joviane and her brothers José Neto, 12, and Ricardo, 10, could have a better education. "The whole family made the decision to come," says Melero Filho. A freshman at Albert Einstein High School, Joviane hoped to become a gynecologist. Although still struggling with English herself, she was forever whipping out her electronic pocket dictionary to translate for other migrant students. "She made many, many friends," Melero Filho says. "She's known a girl for three days, and she was spending the night. That's the kind of girl she was."
Last Tuesday several dozen of those friends filed past her open coffin at the Collins funeral home in Silver Spring, Md., where Joviane lay, a rosary around one hand and an orange-haired rag doll watching over her. Like her family, the teenagers struggled to make sense of their friend's death. "I am very sad and also very angry," Shirley Paniagua, 15, told the Washington Times. "I know the man that killed her is a diplomat. And I know that the diplomat has [faced] no consequences for what he did."
On the evening of Joviane's cremation, her mother appealed to Makharadze to waive his immunity "and have the dignity to be held responsible for his actions. Even then," she continued, "it would be little compared to what I have to live with, without the hugs from my daughter."
ANNE-MARIE O'NEILL
LINDA KRAMER, SANDRA MCELWAINE and CAITLIN NOBILE in Washington
- Contributors:
- Linda Kramer,
- Sandra McElwaine,
- Caitlin Nobile.
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