Human Rights Center Reacts One More Time about the Groundless Dismissals of Patrol-officers

Human Rights Center expresses its concern about the mass dismissals of patrol officers without any ground or motive. 

Patrol-officers who were dismissed from Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti patrol police department of Ministry of Internal Affairs appealed to the Human Rights Center this time. They are: Zviad Beraia, Zurab Soselia, Dazmer Janashia, Davit Kolbaia and Irakli Tsaava, who were dismissed together with 20 other patrol-inspectors.

Applicants talked about the psychological preasure from leaders. More precisely, they were requested to write letters on retire with their “own will”, move to the human resource department and begin finging new jobs. Otherwise, they would “spoil” their resonal records and would transfer to the both - the Prosecutor’s Office and the General Inspection of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. As a result of the preasure, on November 30th of 2012, patrol police officers wrote retiring letters and moved to the human resource deparment.

After this, they appealed to the Patrol Police department of Mnistry of Internal Affairs and requested to explain the reason of their dismissal. In response, they got an answer that they were moved to the human resource main department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs based on theor own requirements and the issue of their employment will not be discussed yet because of the ongoing reorganizational changes.

On February 11 of 2013 Human Rights Center appealed to Irakli Garibashvili, the Minister of Internal Affairs, explaining the situation, told about the psichologycal preasure towards patrol-officers and requested an explanation about the grounds of the dismissals of patrol-officers. Center also reminded the Minister of public promise made by the Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili that there would not take place any dismissals of patrol policemen without reason, except those people who were alleged in the participation in dispersals of demonstrations and other illegal activities.

Short time ago, Human Rights Center received an answer from the Head of the administrative department of the Public Relations Bureau at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It is noted that officers of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti patrol police department of Ministry of Internal Affairs are dismissed from their posts on their resonal requests and they are placed under the human resource main department of Ministry of Internal Affairs.

It is significant, that police officers were dismissed by the same reason and in the same circumstances in Tbilisi in November 2012 and Human Rights Center spread the information about that (იხ.www.humanrights.ge/index.phpa=main&pid=15947&lang=geo ) and held a press conference immediately.

The Center appealed to the Minister of Internal Affairs that time and asked to get interested in  the voluntary retirings of patrol police officers and find out the real reason of their dismissals from work. It is interesting, that this statement had a positive result, particularly - dismissed officers were restored to work on the second day after press conference and they continue their duties nowadays.

However, this time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs refuses to restore the dismissed patrol-officersn back to work. At the same time, they mention the letters written by the patrol officers under psichologycal pressure.

Human Rights Center condemns such a cynical attitude and publicly calls the Minister of Internal Affairs to study the fact of patrol officers’ mass dismissals. At the same time, general department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs must listen to the information provided by the dismissed patrol officers, who urge that they were replaced with the non-professional candicates, which will make danger to puclic order as well.
Human Rights Center