Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2003 - Georgia

Procedural irregularities during the trial of the man charged with murdering Giorgi Sanaya²⁷

On 9th July 2003, Grigol Khurtsilava was sentenced to 13 years in prison for the murder of Mr. Giorgi Sanaya. Mr. Sanaya was a journalist for the TV channel Rustavi 2, and frequently exposed the regime's corruption. He was murdered on 26th July 2001. Although Mr. Khurtsilava, a former State Security officer, pleaded guilty and denied any political motive for the murder, this version of events is doubtful. He notably asserted during his trial that he had mistaken his target and did not know who Mr. Sanaya was. It appears, moreover, that witnesses were subjected to a lot of pressure during the trial.

Harassment against TV channel Rustavi 2 continues²⁸

In 2002, on Rustavi 2's "60 Minutes" programme, Mr. Akaki Gogichaishvilli, the programme's editor and presenter, exposed the corruption of the head of Georgian Railways, Akika Chkhaidze. Mr. Chkhaidze brought defamation charges.

In August 2003, the regional court of Tbilisi ruled that Rustavi 2 should pay a million lari (nearly 450,000 euros) in damages and interest to Mr. Chkhaidze. During the trial, the journalists were not permitted to produce the evidence on which they had based their accusations.

The political changes of December 2003 enabled this decision to be cancelled.

On 29th December 2003, a rocket was fired at the premises of Rustavi 2. The building was damaged but no one was wounded. An antitank rocket launcher was found close to the TV channel's offices and a sabotage investigation was opened.

Constraints on the freedom to demonstrate²⁹

On 17th September 2003, the Union of Environmental Protection and Animal Rights (Lobo) organized a demonstration against the construction of a new oil pipeline in the Borjomi region. The association highlighted the risks of flooding the valley and the threat posed by the pipeline to the region's ecosystem. On the orders of the governor, Gedevan Popkhadze, some 20 demonstrators were attacked and beaten by police officers.

The complaint brought by the head of the organization, Mrs. Lasha Chkhartisvili, came to nothing.

Constraints on the activities of the Monitoring Council of the Prison System³⁰

The Council for Public Monitoring of the Prison System was established by the Justice Ministry. It enables representatives from NGOs and the civilian community to enter prisons freely and carry out checks.

On 25th January 2003, a revolt broke out in Tbilisi's Prison 5; it was rapidly brought under control by special forces from the Ministry of Justice, but more than 30 prisoners were injured. On 28th January, representatives from the Monitoring Council were prevented from gaining access to the hospital or the prison, on the pretext that the prison authorities could not guarantee their safety.

On 3rd May 2003, a member of the Council, Giorgi Lagidze, and a journalist from the Sakartvelos Respublika (Georgian Republic) were refused entry into the young offenders' section of Tbilisi prison. When they asked for a list of the people in charge of overseeing the department, they were insulted and beaten by the director of punishments and security, Mr. Gogoshvili. Mr. Lagidze registered a complaint and Mr. Gogoshvili was dismissed from his post.

Attack on the Fund of Georgian Human Rights Defence³¹

In April 2003, the offices of the Fund of Georgian Human Rights Defence in Sachkhere, were attacked by a group of unidentified individuals. The assailants stole IT equipment and a number of documents intended for the publication of a report on violent incidents perpetrated by the forces of order.

In 2003, the premises of the Sachkhere branch of the Foundation were burgled four times.

Detention and conviction of Giorgi Mshvenieradze³²

On 2nd November 2003, Mr. Giogi Mshvenieradze, representative of the Association of Young Lawyers of Georgia in Kutaisi and an observer during the last parliamentary elections, led parallel vote-counting operations in Kobuleti and in the village of Dagvi in the Autonomous Republic of Adjaria. During these operations, Mr. Mshvenieradze noted significant abuses of the electoral process at polling stations. When he asked members of the Electoral Commission to make a written note of these irregularities, he was beaten by officers of the regional prosecutor and then arrested.

Mr. Mshvenieradze was, at first, accused of obstructing the electoral process and the activities of the Electoral Commission, in accordance with articles 162 and 163 of the Penal Code. On 4th November, however, these charges were altered, and he was accused of acts of vandalism using "a firearm or any other object that might be used as a weapon" (article 239.3 of the Penal Code) and resisting the representatives of the forces of order and of the government (article 353); the charge of obstructing the electoral process was maintained.

On November 5th, 2003, Mr. Mshvenieradze was sentenced by the Regional Court of Kobuleti to three months preventative detention, after which he will be retried

At the end of the elections, the OSCE declared that the Autonomous Republic of Adjaria was one of the Regions where irregularities had been most flagrant. Several NGO representatives were attacked, notably in Kobuleti, and 51 observers were prevented from carrying out their vote-counting operations under pressure from members of the Electoral Commission.

[Refworld note: This report as posted on the FIDH website (www.fidh.org) was in pdf format with country chapters run together by region. Footnote numbers have been retained here, so do not necessarily begin at 1.]

27. Idem.

28. Idem.

29. See Open Letter to the Authorities, 21st October 2003.

30. Idem.

31. Idem.

32. See Urgent Appeal GEO 001/1103/OBS 063.