Civil Society Gathered to Support GYLA

Mariam Imerlishvili

On September 8th Georgian NGOs held a solidarity action to support Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA). The representatives of Georgian civil society gathered at the office of GYLA and expressed concern over the attack against GYLA by the government officials.

“Instead of apologizing to GYLA, they made displeased statements. These attacks will not bring any fruit for them. It would be better if they investigated Nika Kvintradze’s case anew and satisfy the public interest,” – stated the chief editor of Rezonansi Lasha Tughushi who joined the solidarity action of the NGOs.

The irritation of government officials and inadequate comments were incited by the independent steps made by GYLA regarding the death of Nika Kvintradze in the suspicious circumstances of May 26th night.

On August 17th GYLA sent the photo and video material regarding case of Nika Kvitradze to the influential expert bureau. The expert conclusion was radically different from the official version of MIA (Ministry of Internal Affairs), according to which Nika Kvintradze climbed the roof of the store and died as a result of coming in contact with the electric wires. However, there is a photo according to which handicuffed Nika Kvintradze lies on the ground with other individuals detained by the Special Forces. According to MIA, it is not Nika Kvintradze, but another citizen Giorgi Bakradze on the photo.

“In order to compare and identify the individuals reflected in the photo and video material, we sent the photos of ID card of Nika Kvintradze and the photos taken in the morgue after his death and the photo where a witness recognized his friend Kvintradze. We also sent them the video material covered by Rustavi 2. On August 26th we received the expert conclusion. By morphological comparison we concluded that in the ID card, as well as in the photos taken after the death and in the vide material the same person is reflected. The expertise discovered seven similar characteristics between the images and confirmed that the photo taken in the territory of the action and the person reflected in the video material is Nika Kvintradze. Thus there is only conclusion – Kvintradze was detained by the police during the May 26th protest disruption. It is interesting how he happened to be laying dead on the roof of the store afterwards,” – states GYLA lawyer Tamta Mikeladze.

“Instead of starting contextual discussion regarding the case of Nika Kvintradze, the organization became the victim of the assault. Unfortunately, something like this can happen in our country – when organization which tries to defend the human rights and rule of law receives insult and slander as a result. The government should know that it is not right to talk to the NGO sector in this way,” – stated the head of GYLA Tamar Chugoshvili with humanrights.ge.

GYLA and the representatives of NGO sector request Georgian government to renew the investigation regarding the death of Nika Kvintradze, conduct the case objectively and present the results to the public.

Bloody Night of May 26th and Unanswered Questions

May 26th protest rally and subsequent events raised many questions in the Georgian society. The questions are still not answered. The stories of the lost and dead as a result of use of force are still vague.

Nika Kvintradze and Soliko Asatiani died during the protest disruption. They have been considered lost for a long time. According to the official version of MIA, the police found the corpses of Nika Kvintradze and Suliko Asatiani in the morning of May 27th in the territory of metro station Freedom Square, on the roof of one of the stores. The reason of his death was named to be coming in contact with the high voltage electricity wires.

Official version was not argumentative and convincing enough for part of the society. One more argumentative version generated in the media – the friend of the deceased alleged that the handcuffed man reflected on the photo taken at the night of May 26th was Nika Kvintradze.

After the publication of the conclusion of independent British expertise, unethical comments were made by the representatives of MIA and parliamentary majority towards GYLA. The TV companies Rustavi 2 and Imedi covered the biased reports insulting GYLA. The head of analytical department of MIA Shota Utiashvili stated that the investigation regarding the case of Kvintradze is over and the person reflected on the photo taken at night of May 26th is Giorgi Bakradze who is alive and lives in Kareli region.

According to Utiashvili, the investigation stopped after it was made clear by the visual comparison that the person reflected on the photo and Giorgi Bakradze are the same individual. MIA blames GYLA in the dissemination of incorrect information and deceiving public.

According to GYLA lawyer, the investigation should not apply just visual comparison and its approach must be more grounded and professional. The photo expertise is a lot more trustworthy for the society than just a visual comparison.

GYLA and big part of NGO sector request the MIA to conduct qualified photo expertise and objectively investigate the case.