TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
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TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Legal Proceeding against “Rustavi2”:
Million Lari for Moral Compensation
Akaki Chkhaidze won his legal proceeding against TV channel “Rustavi 2”. Tbilisi regional court charged TV programme “60 Minutes” to pay one million lari for moral compensation of Akaki Chkhaidze. The court had ignored the evidences of “Rustavi 2”. As a reminder, last year “60 minutes” criticised Akaki Chkhaidze, the Head of Georgian railway and one of the Leader of governmental party, with the information provided byAlexander Maglapheridze who emigrated to the USA. The confrontation reached its peak about two months ago when a woman with hidden camera visited Akaki Chkhaidze. He found the camera and arrested the woman, which was illegal detention, but the Prosecution office did not conduct the investigation on the matter.
Sanaia’s Wife does not Trust District Court
The widow of the journalist Giorgi Sanaia, Khatuna Chkhaidze, has not yet decided to take part in the discussion of his husband’s case in Tbilisi regional court. As a reminder of the events, David Dadiani, the attorney of Grogol Khurtsilava, is going to appeal to the regional court against the decision of the district court according which Khurtsilava was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment.
“I do not hope that something will change in regional court” – stated Khatuna Chkhaidze who expressed mistrust in the investigation of her husband’s case by the prosecutor’s office and court.
As it is known, the Gldani-Nadzaladevi district court refused Katuna Chkhaidze’s action for moral compensation, claiming 100 000GEL (approximate 48000USD) from the prosecutor’s office for the investigation was not objective and her rights were violated.
Smash with Roma
TBILISI, Georgia - On 9 August 2003 a Roma merchant beat Darejan Korsava resulting in her hospitalisation. The situation of her health is not life threatening.
According to the official information the quarrel started after Korsava went to the Roma merchant to return the trousers she had bought before that made them upset and caused him to beat the woman. After the incident, people dispersed the Roma and destroyed their places of trade and continued beating and menacing the Roma community for several hours.
According to unofficial sources, the officials of the market provoked the situation as they wanted to hold those places Roma use for trading.
Police arrested 23 year old Vitali Khutsishvili alleged in organising the conflict for 3 hours. Didube-Chugureti police is investigating the incident.
Trafficking has been Recognised as a Criminal Offence
TBILISI, Georgia - Trafficking has been recognised as a criminal offence which means that every person alleged in trafficking will be punished. The “Law on Trafficking”, which was ratified by the Georgian Parliament on 6 June 2003, has already come into force. According to Giorgi Gogoberidze, the Head of the Parliamentary Relations and Law Department of Justice Ministry, trafficking is considered to be trading in people, the exploitation of a person through blackmailing or deceit, forced labour or sexual exploitation of a person, putting a person in modern slave conditions and using a person for illegal transplantation. Trafficking is punished from five to 12 years imprisonment, but if he/she commits the same offence several times and towards several persons, it is punishable from eight to 20 years imprisonment.
Policeman Killed a Young Man
MESTIA, Georgia - Paata Kavtaradze, the policeman of Mestia district, shot and killed a young man living in Mestia. As Sergo Chachibaia, the Deputy of the Head of the police of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti informed Prime-News, the reasons of the murder is unknown.According to his information, the murder happened after the conflict between the policeman and the victim.
Anticorruption Council is going to Discuss Police Work
TBILISI, Georgia - The anticorruption council is going to give recommendations about the question of keeping the head of the Traffic Police in his position because of the violations found in the work of this body. According to the data of anticorruption council, millions of lari go to the pockets of high ranking police officials of Internal Affairs and Traffic Police. As Kakha Ugulava, the head of anticorruption council, stated at the meeting of the council, the reforms are necessary to carry out in this system.
Further, Paata Gomelauri, the Head of the Interior Ministry’s press-service, said that Interior Ministry and General Inspection will seriously study the situation and take appropriate steps.
Appeal against the President
TBILISI, Georgia - Givi Targamadze, the member of “National Movement” appeals to the regional court against the President.
He states that according to the President’s statement of 29 July 2003, the “Phero” in Zestaponi was sold to Austrian company without a tender and “Chiaturmanganum” faces the same threat. Targamadze ccalls for the abolishment of the mentioned statement and declares that it is the interests of the President’s daughter, Manana Shevardnadze, which stand behind the Austrian company.
Targamadze pointed at the numbers of breaches and circumstances that had taken place in the rules set in the statement and the alienation document. It is notable that the project preparation work was not transparent. In addition he thinks that the president illegally posed the responsibility on Power Ministry to supply “Phero” electrical power systematically and the payment of the electricity should be regulated by “Georgian Power Supplying Committee” according the rates existing until 2008.
Court Proceeding Between Jehovah’s Witnesses and Organisation Cross
RUSTAVI, Georgia - Action against the Patriotic union “Cross” was brought in Rustavi court by the law-enforcement officials four months ago refering to the seventh episode of moral, physical, and property abuse of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
According to the appeal “Cross” representatives exaggerated their rights. They do not consider themselves guilty, however, and state that Jehovah’s Witnesses often brought such goods in Rustavi which were not the same as their materials.
According to Paata Bluashvili, the Head of “Cross,” the incidences of pressure by Jehovah’s Witnesses on the population are very frequent and this is confirmed by numerous applications. He also mentioned that 12 000 such applications are sent to public defender’s office from Rustavi.
Devdariani Will not Have to Apologise
TBILISI, Georgia - On August 1st, the Tbilisi District Court satisfied the appeal of Ombudsman, Nana Devdariani, demanding the abolishment of the verdict issued by Mtatsminda-Krtsanisi Regional Court on 17 March.
According to the decision of Mtatsminda-Krtsanisi Regional Court, Nana Devdariani was ordered to take back statements she made and apologise to Military Prosecutor Gia Jikia for her comments about him in the media. In her interviews published in the press, Devdariani blamed the Military Prosecutor of being corrupt and accused him of weapon trading and misuse of power.
“The decision made by Mtatsminda-Krtsanisi Regional Court served one aim, to frighten journalists. On the one hand, Jikia by the court decision wanted to show the journalists that if anyone tries to write anything negative about him, he would bring a case before the court. On the other hand, the court wanted to create an illusion in society that Jikia was true and that the Ombudsman was blaming him without justification,” says Devdariani.
The Military Prosecutor did not attend the District Court Decision.
President’s Statement
TBILISI, Georgia - According to the President’s statement, a higher military man will not have right to arrest a lower one. This does not mean that the violators of the discipline will not be punished. They will be punished according their crime not under the will of officers but under the court decision. According to the Georgian constitution, which in this case is in the level of European standards, the liberty of a person might be restricted under the court decision only. For this reason military tribunal had been abolished.
Georgia Demands Political Guarantees for
Refugees Returning to Abkhazia
TBILISI, Georgia - Zaza Gogsadze, Envoy of the Georgian Foreign Affairs Ministry, took part in the second meeting held in Geneva two weeks ago lead by the high-ranking officials from the group of Friends and the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative, HE Heidi Tagliavini. Representatives of both Georgia and Abkhazia participated in the meeting.
“At the meeting with UN representatives, the Georgian side discussed the political guarantees that refugees should have after their return to Abkhazia. At the meeting Special Representative of UN Secretary General was ordered to study the case of security in the Abkhazian region,” reported Zaza Gogsadze.
Explosion at Rustavi Police Station
RUSTAVI, Georgia - Five men, wanted by the police for previous crimes, attacked a police station in Rustavi on 2 August at 14.00, detonating a bomb near the building and injuring three employees of the police Criminal Justice Department. The police returned fire, although none of the attackers was injured. Wounded police officials were taken to the Interior Ministry hospital in Ortachala. As the police declared, they have been searching for this group of criminals for a week and this was an attempt to threaten them. No one has been detained in relation to this incident.
Drug Addict Policeman has been Detained
TBILISI, Georgia - The deputy of the head of Gardabani district of Internal Affairs Department, Kakha Giorgobiani, living at Uznadze Street in Tbilisi, was detained in the capital on 2 August.
Giorgobianoi was under the influence of drugs with large quantities of heroin found on his person. During the search, three pistols were found in his flat, two of which did not have a registration number.
Lost Corporal Found Murdered
21 year old Nika Chkadua, the corporal of the 16th division of the Defense Ministry who had disappeared two months ago, was found murdered on 4 August. His body was taken to the hospital.
The deceased was identified by his parents. Nika Chkadua had been serving in the Sachkhere battalion under the contract prepared in the framework of training and equipment programme funded by the US Government.
Sentence was Changed
TBILISI, Georgia - The Didube-Chugureti district court changed the prison sentence of Merab Sioridze to house arrest because of health problems.
The brother of Zaza Sioridze, the Head of the Parliamentary Financing Budget Committee, Merab Sioridze is accused in taking 246 607 USD from the money that had possessed to “Deaf Society” when he was a director of the mentioned organisation.
According to the statement of Tbilisi Didube-Chugureti district court, Sioridze was sentenced to temporary detention on 2 June 2003. His attorney, Vakhtang Talakvadze, stated that his defendant suffers from a cardiac illness.
Search in Jail #1
TBILISI, Georgia - On 3 August a special group from the Justice Ministry and Penitentiary Department managed a wide scale search action in Prison #1 during which many forbidden items were found and confiscated including five mobile phones, six knives, five decks of playing cards, 25 iron objects of different sizes, etc.
The security service of the prison and searching department of penitentiary department are investigating the incident.
Escapee Has Been Detained
TBILISI, Georgia - 36 year old Vepkhia Tinikashvili, who had escaped from Avchala colony on 27 June, was detained by the Interior Ministry’s Search Department on 10 July in Didube district. Tinikashvili did not resist during detention. Currentlyhe is in Tbilisi’s Jail #5. Tinikashvili is accused of robbery and is sentenced to seven years imprisonment. He ran from Avchala prison with seven other convicts by disarming the guard and climbing over the wall.
Tinikashvili is already the fourth prisoner to have escaped and who has been detained. The police managed to liquidate three escapees and one was found drowned in Mtkvari.
48 prisoners ran from the prisons during last two months.
Prisoner Injured in Police Department
TBILISI, Georgia - 28 year old Koba Patskhvania was taken from the Internal Affairs temporary detention isolator to Tbilisi Jail #5 with physical injuries. The detainee says that he injured himself in the pre-trial isolator.
Person Alleged in Robbery is going to Sew his Mouth Together
TBILISI, Georgia - In Tbilisi Jail #5, Khvicha Razmadze, who is accused of robbery, is threatening to sew his mouth together. The prisoner pleads that he is innocent and calls for an objective investigation.
Khvicha Razmadze was detained a month ago on the accusation of robbery by the police of Khashuri. According to his statement, claimant Nozadze does not accuse him and informed the proper bodies about this but without result.
12 Convicted Women Stage Hunger-strike for their Pardon
TBILISI, Georgia - On 7 August 12 convicted women went on strike in the women’s colony demanding their pardon. They protested the decision of the commission of pardon which refused to give them this privilege. The prisoners demanded to meet the public defender, Nana Devdariani, and the Secretary Deputy of the Security Council, Rusudan Beridze. The convicts state that prisoners with similar crimes were granted pardonbut they have not received this same right. According to the director of the women’s colony, Medea Alania, the demands of the prisoners were conveyed to the addressors.
Two Persons died from AIDS
TBILISI, Georgia - Two persons died from AIDS during the last week. According to the information of infective pathologies, AIDS and clinical immunology, a man living in Tbilisi was revealed infected with the virus of immunodeficiency. The way of transfer was intra-venereal drug addiction. According to the official statistics, 444 persons are infected with the AIDS in Georgia. 375 of them are men. 69 were exposed this year. 71 persons died with AIDS in Georgia. According to the experts, the number of persons infected with AIDS exceeds 2000.
Georgian Convicts Returned to Georgia
TBILISI, Georgia - Two Georgian citizens tried abroad – 44 year old Temur Shlater from Kazakhstan and Temur Alshibia from Ukraine – have been returned to Georgia. According to Gela Badriashvili, the Head of the Justice Ministry’s Department for International Law, Shlater was tried for extortion and Alshibia – for trading with counterfeit money.
Temur Shlater was detained in Kazakhstan on 23 June 2003 and was sentenced to seven years imprisonment.
Temur Alshibia was detained on 17 November 1999 for the effort of trading with counterfeit money – 250 thousand Ukrainian hryvni. Alshibia was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment.
The cases were sent to the court in order to compare the verdict with Georgian legislation.
Escapee Returned Wounded to Prison
TBILISI, Georgia - Lasha Javakhdze, taken from Borjomi Internal Affairs temporary detention isolator to Tbilisi Jail #5, has a wound on his foot which he had received after escaping from the prison. Javakhadze is one of those 16 prisoners who escaped from Tbilisi Jail # 5 on 31 May. He was detained in Borjomi on 5 July. As Javakhadze explained, he had received the wound during the detention.
Russia Keeps Silent Regarding the Extradition of Shota Chichiashvili
TBILISI, Georgia - The Georgian General Prosecution Office has not yet received any information from the corresponding body of the Russian Federation about the extradition of Shota Chichiashvili who has been detained in Moscow. According to Paata Mskhiladze, the head of the International Law Department of the General Prosecutor’s office, the Georgian side has transmitted all the important documents to the Russian General Prosecution regarding the accusations against Chichiashvili – kidnapping the people and committing murder. According to the set rules Russian Prosecution has one more week to make proper decision.
Paata Mskhiladze hopes that the extradition of Chichiashvili will happen without problems, however it is possible that the alleged person may appeal against the court decision regarding the extradition. Chichiashvili has not yet applied to any court in Moscow with this request.
According to the information of Interior Ministry, Mevlud (Shota) Chichiashvili is accused of several offences, among them organising the kidnapping of Parliamentary Member Petre Tsiskarishvili and his friend Anna Surmava, Spanish businessmen, British banker Peter Show, workers of “International Committee of Red Cross” and several others.
16 Judges are Dismissed during Three Years
TBILISI, Georgia - The Council of Judges Discipline dismissed 16 judges during three years, among them the chairman of the Court. The council discussed 89 cases in 2002, 49 of them were initiated by the Chairman of the Court. According to the decision, a note was given to 15 judges, 13 were given recommendations, five received reprimands and seven received severe reprimands. Two judges were dismissed last year whilst three were dismissed this year.
Statistics Economic Growth
TBILISI, Georgia - According to the data from the State Statistics Department, Georgia is experiencing an economic revivals illustrated by the economic data goingback to the statistics of 1992.
According to the Statistics Department, the first half of 2003 shows the country’s GDP totaling GEL 3 943 000. The rate of the current GDP growth is the highest since 1997 in Georgia increasing by 8.6% over last year’s growth; however this growth is lower than that of other CIS countries.
The economists attribute the acceleration of economic growth to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline construction. According to these sources, GEL 143.4 million has already been invested in non-financial assets for the pipeline project in Georgia.
The number of unemployed registered in Georgia reached 47 000 by 1 July 2003, 20.4% above the January figures.As for foreign trade, imports continue to significantly exceed exports. As for exports, the ferrous metal scrap is the leading export.