In Kakheti Environmental Inspectors Persecute Peasants

Representatives of human rights organization blame officials from the Kakheti Bureau of the Environmental Inspection (EI) for violating human rights. Everyday, EI inspectors seize peasants the firewood, which they buy or receive as a gift and then the inspectors send so-called law offenders to the court.  In the region, hundreds of poor people with their under-age children try to survive the frost with bare hands.

Retired Guguli Toriashvili, with his disabled wife, lives in the village of Chandari in Gurjaani District. The only income for the family is a pension the woman receives as a disabled person and the allowance, granted by the government, within the poverty reduction program. The house of the Toriashvilis pulled down, and now they shelter somebody's house. "We wanted to buy firewood instead of flour. Unfortunately, my husband got ill and we bought medicine for twenty lari we had saved for the wood. My nephew lives in Chumlaki, and hearing we were freezing, he promised us to give us firewood. His neighbor owed him some money and my nephew decided to take firewood from him instead of the debt.  We urged the director of the wine-factory to lend us a tractor to transport the wood, and finally we arrived in Chumlaki on December 18 to take the wood. However, patrol police stopped us on our way home. Then the police called the environmental inspection which confiscated our firewood. They ordered my husband to sign the warrant, but he is illiterate and could not sign the document. They left the firewood in the yard of Gurjaani Forest Department. They fined us with 600 GEL for damaging the environment and sent our case to the court for investigation," said Eliko Toriashvili and added that the inspectors did not let them produce the document to prove the legal purchase of the wood.

"Ghrubelashvili was shouting at me and making fun of me, He was saying what he would ask me because I am illiterate. I did not know whether I needed any documents to accept the firewood as a present and to transport it from one to another village. However, I was ready to produce the documents, but they could not wait for us," said Guguli Toriashvili.

Iago Ghrubelashvili, specialist-in-chief of the Fast Reaction Unit within the Kakheti Bureau of the Environmental Inspection, denies accusations against him. He called the Human Rights Center after officials from the NGO had asked his boss, Davit Utmelidze, to produce a copy of the warrant on breaching the law. Ghrubelashvili categorically demanded to explain him why the centre was that much interested in the fact. "Why are you so interested in Guguli Toriashvili's fate? Is he your relative? No? Then why do you bother? We acted within the law and I do not advise you to publish anything about it. You will not protect them. Where did you meet those illiterate people?" the inspector shouted and cut the line.

Kakheti bureau of the EI has submitted nearly ten warrants on breaching the law to the Gurjaani District Court for the last seven days. The warrants are enclosed with bills, as well.

"Toriashvili could not damage the environment for very simple reason. He did not chop the trees himself. So called law offender received the firewood as a present from his relative and they had the document to prove that the wood was cut within the law. Administrative Code, Prima Article 128, section four, states, that "A person, transporting or selling wood without legal document, must be fined from 50 to 300 GEL, confiscated or released," said lawyer, Lia Khuroshvili.  She also pointed out that amendments were brought to the aforementioned law in summer, this year. "It is true that nobody can be discharged because of being unfamiliar with the law, but it is really difficult to demand from an illiterate person to act under law. Thus, the EI should rather inform the people about the amendments on TV to avoid similar facts. Toriashvili might have misunderstood the information, but others should really take the announcement into consideration," said the lawyer.

According to the official information, Gurjaani District Court has not discussed any warrants, yet. Nino Kachlishvili, assistant to the judge Shalva Mchedlishvili, said that everyday in 2006 there are trials, and the judge is about to discuss Toriashvili's case, as well as many other cases submitted by EI, in 2007.  Thus, hundreds of people in Kakheti will be hungry and freezing on New Year Eve. 

Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti