Population Is Seized Property in Revolutionary Georgia (part II)

Mare deconstruction activities took place in the area of the underground station “Gotsiridze.” Two entities were destroyed. One of them, a café “Orkidea” Ltd, was situated on the right exit of the station and the second was on the left exit, which was the double storied shopping center “Merry Time” Ltd. The café was destroyed on January 27, and the “Merry Time” was destroyed on January 30. 

Although owners of the both entities appealed to the court, the court did not accept one of the appeals because the victim owner could not pay the 6 000GEL court fee. The victim cannot pay that money and consequently he will have to withdraw his appeal.

After the café was destroyed, owner Rusudan Djodjua, felt so ill that she became bed-ridden. She was finally able to get up twenty-two days after the incident. She called “Bartholomew’s Night” the night when her café was deconstructed. She compares the incident with the events of 1937, when thousands of famous Georgians were arrested during the nights and murdered. It was one of the cruelest and most tragic events that transpired during the Communist Regime in Georgia.

Rusudan Djodjua: “Before they destroyed the building, nobody provided me with official written orders or documents. I learned about the deconstruction activities three days beforehand. A few young people were coming from the Supervision Service Department and threatened to destroy the building. We had no more reliable information. They told me that if I didn’t behave well, I would be arrested. I had no choice but to look on helplessly as my café was destroyed in front of me. Nearly 100 people arrived at the scene, they surrounded the café, set fire inside to force the people to evacuate the building and then they destroyed it. At least they were not killing people like they did in 1937 or in 1989.”

“At the time of the deconstruction, the case was active and equipped with all necessary staff. Everything collapsed in front of me. Though the land was not my property, I had leased it. I had done nothing illegal and never violated the law. At 3:00 AM, Makatsaria (the chief of the Supervision Department) arrived at the scene and thanked the boys for the successful work. Nearly 50-100 patrol policemen were mobilized in the area. They were protecting the representatives of the supervision service department. They wanted to take my husband but I fell to my knees before them and begged them not to arrest him. Since that time I have had nightmares. I never imagined that I would undergo such a disaster in my life.”

“I asked them how they could live such a sinful life. Everybody was implementing the work very calmly. Only two boys were crying. One of them told my friend, when the bulldozer arrives, take that woman away, she would not endure it. After the deconstruction, Makatsaria told me to visit him the next Monday. I did not intend to appeal to the court.  I wanted to see Makatsaria and find out everything. However, having arrived at the place, they kicked me out like a dog. After that I decided to appeal to the court. My fourteen-year-old daughter was observing the scene and she had her jaw dislocated at the sight. Everybody knew about my tragedy and when I was taking my daughter to doctors they did not take money from me. Finally, one of the employees of the Supervision Department told me that I was a good woman for not having pointed to others.”

As for the “Merry Time” Ltd, Lali Khizanishvili, one of its owners, appealed to the court. She demanded compensation for damage. Her husband, Givi Khuroshvili, said in his conversation with the Human Rights Center that the private property, that was destroyed, was evaluated by the audit for 240 000GEL. Interesting to note is that the owner heard about the plans for deconstruction only by a chance.

Givi Khuroshvili; “I was intending to sell the building. A purchaser asked me if the rumors he had heard were true. They were going to destroy my entity. I could not believe it because I read an interview of the Deputy Chief of the Supervision Service Department, Saginashvili, in the 25-31 December edition of the newspaper Kviris Palitra where he said that this particular building would not be deconstructed. Nevertheless I applied to the above-mentioned department to find out the truth. I met both Saginashvili and Makatsaria. They told me that the building was going to be destroyed. I am a lawyer and I know the legislation quite well. I demanded him to produce a court decision or some other normative act to prove the legality of deconstruction. He replied “I have already told you, it must be destroyed.”

According to the victim, he applied to the interim main architect to find out the situation but he received the same answer there too.

A special team arrived at the place to destroy the building. However, the presence of the non-governmental organizations, public defender and the parliamentary opposition were there and they could not implement their plans.

Khuroshvili recalled that on January 29, he applied to the Public Defender and the City Hall and demanded them to discuss his case. “Unfortunately, I have not received any answer yet. I applied to the Prosecutor’s Office and the police in vain. I was walking around the building from 6:00 AM together with my four-year-old child to see if anybody would arrive there. On January 30, a big brigade arrived on the scene and surrounded the building. They approached the bulldozer and annihilated the building.”

The victim appealed to the Administrative Court against the City Hall on February 27. As he declared, the entity was the only source of the income for the family. Now they are left without any income. The victim is waiting for the decision.

As for the documents, his case materials include all necessary documents such as: an extract from the property report from the Public Registration Department; permission on construction; permit on construction issued by the ArchMshenInspection; exploitation warrant on the building, etc.

Eka Gulua