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Extortion At Sarpi Custom House in the Name of State

May 5, 2011

“Is the state so poor that they seize the money, we have earned from our three-month hard physical work?!”

Maka Malakmadze, Adjara

More and more people face problems at the Sarpi Custom House. Custom officers seize the purchased goods from most of them claiming they have breached the new rules of duty-payment according to the instruction of the Minister of Finances released on February 1, 2011. However, the stories of the citizens do not show any signs of violation.

Murad Diasamidze: “I work in Turkey and bought some presents for my family members. The total price of the presents was no more than 300 GEL. I did not know about the new duty payment rules but later I found out that I did not breach the law, anyway. My luggage did not weigh more than 30 kg and did not cost more than 500 GEL. They seized everything from me; I was wearing only one new T-shirt and managed to bring only it. The custom officer told me it would be my present to the state. Is the state so poor that state agents seize the money we have earned from three-month hard physical work?”

Irina Asanidze: “I had one package of linen. They took me inside and seized it from me. I asked them what they were going to do with it and they said –to give to the orphanage in Samtredia or in other orphanage. If they really want to give it to the orphanage, I will give it to them myself; if they do not trust, custom officer can accompany me there.”

“The custom officer told me we could bring no more than 30-kg luggage. So we obeyed the instruction but other custom-officer seized everything from us. I do not know how to return home only with one shampoo,” said Nadia Buchukuri, who crossed the Sarpi Custom on April 9.

Tsiuri Sakvarelidze has more complicated problems. She cannot cross the border for the next one year. “I was wearing sport-pajamas when crossing the border; I had worn them before too. They told me I had to pay 1000 GEL fine or they would ban me to cross the border for the next one year. Then they wrote a protocol that I was wearing cloths which I intended to bring through the custom illegally. A week later, I received a notice that I cannot cross the border for the next one year.”

Some people do not face any problems when crossing the custom.

Elene Tsereteli: “Yesterday, they allowed my relative through the custom without checking her luggage; though she had goods of about 300-350 GEL. Other people, who were together with her, had goods of 500 GEL. I have not travelled to Turkey for three months and decided to go there; but the custom officers seized everything from me.”

On February 1, 2011 the Minister of Finances of Georgia released instruction on “the Improvement of the Transportation and Registration of the Goods on Economic Territory of Georgia”; the annex of the Article 61 of the instruction states: “Goods for general usage and/or household items can be imported to Georgian territory only through open portals and only by van.”

Although the goods imported by the abovementioned citizens were not goods for general economic use, they were seized from the owners.

Our respondents had not crossed Georgian-Turkish border for more than one month and their luggage did not weigh more than 30 kg and the price did not exceed the limited amount.

We tried to find out with the custom officers why they consider that one towel, a t-shirt and linen are enough to start some economic activities. The Human Rights Center tried to get comments from the senior officer of the Sarpi Custom House Vladimer Lazarishvili but we found him neither in the Custom House nor at the Revenue Department of the Ministry of Finances. We left our contacts with the head of the service office at the Custom House Tandila Shelia who promised to give our phone number to Lazarishvili who would not refuse to make comments; however, it had no result.

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