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Court Ruled to Sell Flat of the IDP Professor

September 23, 2015
 
Nino Kimadze

Associated professor of the faculty of economics and business at the Tbilisi State University Merab Jikia applied to Human Rights Center for help. According to his statement, Mamuka Loluashvili and his wife, Ana Khetaguri misappropriated his flat fraudulently and mortgaged it several times. As a result of 9-year dispute Merab Jikia managed to gains his flat back and was declared victim. The court found Mamuka Loluashvili and Ana Khetaguri guilty and sentenced them to 8-year imprisonment. Regardless the fact, Professor Jikia was notified from the National Enforcement Bureau that his flat shall be sold on the auction to reimburse funds of the mortgagers.
“In May 2006, I rented my flat to Mamuka Loluashvili and his wife Ana Khetaguri based on official contract. I provided one copy of this contract in the Didube district Tax Inspection and was registered as a tax-payer. I rented my flat for 300 USD per month and paid income tax monthly. Mamuka Liluashvili fabricated an agreement with the Notary and claimed as if I had sold the flat to them half a year before. I have a well-grounded doubt that the Notary also cooperated with them in illegal activities because later the investigation annulled this document. In 2006, Liluashvili managed to register my flat on his name in the Tbilisi Registration Agency and mortgaged it for 37 000 USD whilst Civil Registration Agency had evaluated my flat for 40 000 lari,” Merab Jikia reported.

According to Jikia, during the preliminary investigation he was declared victim. The investigation lasted 4 years and based on the September 23, 2010 judgment of the Criminal Collegium of the Court Mamuka Loluashvili and his wife were found guilty and sent to prison for 8 years. Before the investigation finished, Loluashvili managed to flee from Georgia and he is still wanted; as for his wife she serves her term in Prison # 5. 

“I appealed to the Tbilisi City Court, Tbilisi Appeal Court and Tbilisi Supreme Court with the request to remove mortgage obligation from my flat but all instances of the court declined my appeal. On April 24, 2012 executor Lia Kurashvili from the Tbilisi National Enforcement Bureau delivered an enforcement notification about planned auction of my flat. I appealed to the Tbilisi City Court and Appeal Court against the auction but they again did not satisfy my appeal. Then I appealed to the General Prosecutor’s Office, Vake-Saburtalo district prosecutor, head of the Tbilisi National Enforcement Bureau and based on the internal resolution # 521 of the head of the National Enforcement Bureau, dated by June 29, 2012, the execution of the enforcement notification was dropped and realization of the property was banned,” Merab Jikia said.

According to the victim, in December 2012 the mortgagers appealed to the City Court with the request to annul the June 2012 verdict and the Supreme Court of Georgia (Judges Levan Murusidze, Nugzar Skhirtladze, Maya Vachnadze) satisfied their appeal. However, in 2013 the Appeal Court upheld the appeal of the victim and annulled the December 17, 2012 judgment of the Administrative Collegium of the City Court. Based on the 2014 judgment the case was forwarded to the Appeal Court for further consideration and it is still processed.
Merab Jikia told humanrights.ge that short time ago he received a letter from the National Enforcement Bureau which notified him about the planned auction on his flat. He said the Bureau representative clarified to him that she was legal representative of the flat mortgagers and in order to reimburse their debts the flat should be sold.

Humanrights.ge contacted the NEB with regard to Professor Jikia’s case.  Representatives of the Bureau clarified that although Human Rights Center is a nongovernmental organization and provides legal assistance to the victim, the organization is third person and they cannot issue information about Jikia. According to the bureau, the victim shall personally request the information or the organization shall send official request letter.
Lawyer Nestan Londaridze of Human Rights Center defends rights of the victim.
“Additional Protocol Article 1 of the Convention on Human Rights and Basic Freedoms guarantees defense of the private property. Every natural or legal person is entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of his possessions. No one shall be deprived of his possessions except in the public interest and subject to the conditions provided for by law and by the general principles of international law.

The Tbilisi Appeal Court Administrative Chamber mentioned in its judgment that “the Appeal Court concluded that in the disputed case, in accordance to the Article 25.1 of the Law of Georgia on Enforcement Procedures, involuntary enforcement against the registered owner of the property Merab Jikia, who is not a debtor in the enforcement notification, is absolutely inadmissible because based on the September 23, 2010 judgment of the Criminal Collegium of the Tbilisi City Court (case # 1/4953-07), presumption of a legal representative of the debtor cannot be applied to the registered owner of the flat Merab Jikia,” Nestan Londaridze clarified.

Merab Jikia said he has applied to many organizations and committees for help; among them was human rights committee of the Parliament of Georgia but chairperson of the parliamentary committee Eka Beselia forwarded his petition to Murusidze who had passed verdict on this case in the Supreme Court of Georgia. Jikia believes his case must be considered by a different person, who has no ties with his case.

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