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Ministry of Environment Protests Mtivlishvili’s Letter

January 30, 2008

On January 16 Human Rights Center published a letter on its portal www.humanrigts.ge with the following headline: “Bail of Five Thousand Lari and Six-Year-Imprisonment for Taking Scattered Fire-Wood from the Forest.” The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources considers that the fact of illegal use of fire-wood is incorrectly revealed in the letter and bears responsibility to provide the society with correct information.

Despite our readiness to cooperate with the author, Gela Mtivlishvili describes the fact unilaterally and the article does not show the position of the ministry.

The letter covers the fact of illegal cutting and transportation of fire-wood on 25 January 2007, as a result of which Robert Zavarashvili, a resident of the village of Vejini in Gurjaani district was charged under the Criminal Code. The author of the article casts doubt on the legality of Zavrashvili’s detention. 

We consider that Gela Mtivlishvili, the author of the letter was provided with incorrect information. It is false when he claims that Robert Zavrashvili collected and transported only branches and scattered fire-wood. Foresters made a report on the crime and according to their report Zavrashvili drove one truck loaded with wood. The diameter of each tree was 24-44 centimeters and their total amount was 8 sq. Meters. 4, 53 sq. meter out of total amount was oak, beech and hornbeam. Nobody can claim that the transported wood was scattered branches of trees. In accordance to the current legislation foresters discovered the crime and reported on illegal cutting down of the wood. Consequently, total damage to the environment amounted to 1 500 lari. Judiciary system is in charge to impose punishment on Zavrashvili and the Ministry of Environment does not interfere in following process.

The article does not mention another fact on Robert Zavrashvili’s illegal usage of the forest. One month after the incident, on October 26 2007, Environmental Inspection detained the same person, Robert Zavrashvili, for illegal transportation of 5 sq. meter oak-tree and 0.2 sq. meters of hornbeam. Zavrashvili could not show the permission on transporting the wood and attempted to escape the inspectors. Gurjaani Criminal Department within the Ministry of Internal Affairs involved the case. Zavrashvili was seized from the wood and the protocol was drawn on the place. The document was signed by representatives of the Environmental Inspection and Criminal Police Department. A protocol on administrative crime was drawn up according to the Administrative Code, Article 1282 Paragraph IV. The total amount of the damage to the environment reached 1 547 lari. Gurjaani District Court fined the offender with 50 lari and with additional 1 570 lari for the damage to the environment.

In the article Robert Zavrashvili claimed: “We are very poor. So we used to take trees scattered on the ground from the forest; then we choose good fire-wood among them and burnt them in the stove. I have never taken fire-wood without permission from the forest. Moreover, I paid twenty lari once a fortnight to Zurab Ruadze, forest-guard, as he demanded. Later he decided that the money was not enough and demanded thirty lari; I could not pay more.”

We want to draw the public attention to several circumstances. On the one hand, a person does not need any “permission’ to withdraw tree branches from the forest; on the other hand Zavrashvili admits that he paid twenty lari to the forester once in two weeks. Thus, we wonder how many weeks does it take a family to collect enough fire-wood for winter? Maybe that person is an ordinary poacher who was running illegal business with the support of illegally cut down trees. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Environment has applied to the law enforcement bodies to find out whether Zavrashvili really paid money to the forester Zurab Ruadze.

We consider the ministry is groundlessly accused for the cooperation with law enforcers in order to extort money from population after elections. Zavrashvili has slandered us; we wonder what kind of elections he is speaking about because he committed above-mentioned crimes on September 25 and on October 26. Unfortunately, the author of the article did not ask similar question to the detainee.

The Ministry of Environment is ready to provide the society with all materials and documents that are connected with this incident and states once again that employees of the Ministry assume their responsibilities in accordance to the Georgian Legislation.

Although legal activities of foresters are painful for perpetrators, abolition and restriction of illegal cutting of wood will remain non-popular but the most important goal for the Ministry of Environment. We call upon the society, citizens and representative of the media sources to judge the activities of the Ministry correctly and impartially. The society has urged the Ministry to stop illegal activities and to eradicate syndrome of impunity in the field. (Style of the letter was not changed)

A Reply of the Journalist:

The above-mentioned statement of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources was published by the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN). The letter states that ‘The Ministry bears responsibility to provide the society with correct information,” because “Despite our readiness to cooperate with the journalist, unfortunately Gela Mtivlishvili reveals the incident unilaterally and the article does not show the position of the Ministry.’

I consider that the complaints of the Minsitry are groundless and exaggerated. 

The officials of the Ministry who suggest us to “realize and judge their activities impartially and correctly” seem to have failed to realize the principal idea of the article themselves. The letter provides short story of the incident but legal feature of the case and gravity of the supposed punishment was discussed thoroughly. It was not necessary to include the position of the Ministry in similar article and the author of the official statement confirms it too. As I have found out Eka Bendeliani, the advisor to the Minister of Environment is the author of the statement. She stated that “Law enforcement bodies are responsible to charge Zavrashvili for the crime and the Ministry of Environment will not interfere in their affairs.”

In parallel to it officials from the Ministry confirmed that a person does not need a special “permit’ to take branches of tree from the forest. However, we can mention a lot of facts that prove the opposite. We have published several articles about similar occasions. I remember one concrete article with the headline “Inspectors from Environmental Department Hunt Peasants”. There we provided details how officials from the Environmental Department seized fire-wood from a retired couple their relative had given them as a present. The disabled old people were fined when they were transporting the fire-wood from one village to another. Another fact is when inspectors of the Environmental Department fined a juvenile for the withdrawal of tree-branches.

Unfortunately, high ranking officials, comfortably sitting in the warm armchairs of the Ministry, remembered only before elections that they are responsible to provide journalists with public information.

I should point out that I dialed the numbers of the Ministry (822 72 72 24) several times but nobody answered. Gocha Mamatsashvili, deputy Minister of Environment, did not answer our phone calls either. We tried to get in touch with Zurab Ruadze who had his mobile phone turned off for two days. Anxious Ruadze met us only after the article was published in the newspaper. It is good that Ruadze and the Ministry of Environment reacted on our publication but the complaints should be reasonable.

While working on the article, in order to make the story of Robert Zavrashvili more reasonable, we got hold of the “document to prove the legality of the treatment of fire-wood” and for “the usage of wood resources of the forest fund” as well as receipts that demonstrates that Zavrashvili paid tax. We also have copy of bill of particulars of the District Court and comments of the Prosecutor’s Office. We asked independent lawyer to assess the fact. Nobody has answered our questions at the Gurjaani District Court; neither prosecutor’s letter nor the bill of particulars make any conclusions on Zavrashvili’s poaching. As for Robert Zavrashvili’s statement that “institutions subordinated to the Ministry of Environment started active cooperation with law enforcers to fill in the state budget after the elections,” I think his supposition is not groundless.

It is noteworthy that before elections inspectors from the Environmental Department reduced the number of fines. However, during the pre-election campaign the forest was actively cut down because of Mikheil Saakashvili’s initiative to distribute vouchers to the population. Turkish people, who run wood-business in Kakheti region, as well as high ranking officials from Georgian government, much benefited from the situation. Consequently, landslide threatens some places in the region and population lives in danger.

Finally, the statement of the ministry mentions crimes committed by Robert Zavrashvili at various times and claims that I, as a journalist, should have asked questions about the situation. It is false. I have questions and if the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources are so much eager, they should kindly answer me.

Does Ms. Bendeliani, the advisor to the Minister, remember me to spend one day to find out who was the author of their statement because of the bureaucratic methods the ministry uses in regard of people who apply them: their answers are the following: Call him… Call her… I am busy, call me back this evening or tomorrow morning, etc.

What privileges does Nakvetauri, the head of the Kakheti bureau of the Environmental Department, have because he never answers the question of journalists? Maybe the reason is that he is a close relative of Davit Chantladze, former Minister of Environment.

Do you know that Robert Zavrashvili, poacher and perpetrator as the Ministry claimed, is free at the moment? Yes, he is, because Public Attorney advised him to plead himself guilty for the crime he had not committed. However, the Prosecutor’s Office demanded the large bail as well as six-year-imprisonment?

Have you, high ranking officials sitting in comfortable offices of the Ministry or driving luxurious cars, ever seen the family of disabled Robert Zavrashvili who lives in the house with concrete floor together with other seven members of the family and under-age children?

Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti 

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