Giorgi Tugushi: “It Is Not Easy to Unilaterally Declare that Chamber of Control Exceeded Its Mandate “

Public Defender of Georgia Giorgi Tugushi commented on mass interrogation of Georgian Dream’s supporters in the regions of Georgia by the Chamber of Control. Although the interrogated and summoned people claim that the representatives of the Chamber of Control degraded, insulted and intimidated them, the Public Defender states “it is not easy to unilaterally declare that the Chamber of Controlled exceeded its mandate.”

“They called it “hearing clarifications from people” and as far as I know only 4 questions were asked. I have not received information directly from the interrogated people. None of them has applied to our office yet. There were several cases when people faced problems and their lawyers were not allowed to attend the so-called interrogation or questioning. In several cases, people said they were asked completely groundless questions; for example, a representative of ethnic minority group alleged he was threatened with exile if a new president comes into office in the country. I am going to personally meet this person and find out real situation. We have heard about several really astonishing cases and if they really happened, we can speak about lack of procedural norms. I am sure many people could not realize what they were questioned about; why they were summoned, etc. People also complain about being searched, reinforced security measures and mobilized police officers. I cannot speak about validity of this information; it is not easy to process the information within one day but it is subject of serious investigation. People also complain about intimidation that really exceeds the competence of the Chamber of Control and it should be a subject of separate investigation; here I see serious problem. I do not exclude possibility to meet the representatives of the Chamber of Control and found out the real situation.

Generally, it is not so easy to unilaterally declare that the Chamber of Control exceeds its mandate. The recent amendments to the law granted some authorities to the institution. I would like to repeatedly state that the Chamber of Control can simultaneously study financial transparency of the political entities but all details must be regulated; everything might not be envisaged in the law but separate normative acts must be adopted which will clarify all procedures in details,” the Public Defender stated in the Public Broadcaster’s TV-program “Dialogue with Davit Paichadze.”

Nino Korashvili, Information Center of Kakheti