Diary of Pre-election Terror

Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti

Representatives of the opposition parties blame the government for blatant repression. They claim that the ruling political party, with the support of its activists, and a network of law enforcers and administrative employees are openly oppressing supporters of opposition political parties. Non-governmental organizations claim that the worst situation is in Kakehti region of East Georgia.

Police detained member of the Egalitarian Institute.

Mikheil Kachkachishvili, member of the non-governmental organization Egalitarian Institute was detained by patrol police last week. Fikria Chikhradze, single mandate candidate from the United Opposition in Telavi stated that law enforcers detained Kachkachishvili when he was on his way to a meeting with locals in the Telavi district the next morning.

“They stopped the car of Kachkhachishvili and when we asked why pulled us over, they were only willing to say that he looked suspicious,” said Chikhradze. Moreover, he added that it seems that detention of Kachkachishvili shows that the government is trying to obstruct scheduled meetings of opposition members and these are part of the pre-election campaign.
 
Kachkachishvili was taken for a drug test. The test proved that he was not under influence of a controlled substance.

Nino Petriashvili, wife of the detainee, stated that she was driving the car and she had noticed the police car following them since early morning. “Since Misha (Kachkachishvili) was released, patrol police fined him for having parked the car in the wrong place. The police should have had complaints about breaking traffic rules with me, as it was not my husband who was driving,” explained Nino Petriashvili.

Election HQ of Republic Party Raided in Kvareli

Late at night on May 10, 2008, the election HQs of Vano Lomidze, single mandate candidate from Republic Party in Kvareli District in Kakheti Region was raided in the village of Akhalsofeli.

Representatives of the Election HQ stated that flags and banners of the party were torn up; equipment in the office was intentionally damaged.

Members of the Kvareli organization of the Republic Party connect the incident with the visit of the top candidates on the election list of the National Movement, the ruling party, whose representatives were in Kvareli on May 10. “Our supporters asked critical questions to the leaders of the ruling party and they became irritated. After their departure, the local members of the National Movement took revenge against us, which was ordered by their single mandate candidate in the district,” said Mzia Khutuashvili.

A criminal case has been launched by officers of the Kvareli Police department. However, the members of the Republic Party do not trust the investigation because, as reported, Zaza Gelashvili, single mandate candidate of the ruling party in Kvareli district is the former head of the Kakheti Police Department.

Local TV Stations Deny Single Mandate Candidates from TV Statements

Merab Katamadze, single mandate candidate of the Republic Party in Akhmeta District, states that because of being suppressed from the local authorities, two Akhmeta district based TV Stations refused to air his pre-election campaign to the local population.

Katamadze reported that despite the length of the initial order, local cable TV Company “Kakheti” released the text supporting the candidate in the subtitles for only two days. On the third day it was cancelled.  

“Currently the subtitles have completely disappeared because of technical problems, as they claim and its restoration will take another two weeks. I think they say it because of approving their behavior. As for Akhmeta TV Station, they refused to present my pre-election campaign because the TV Company was founded by the District Administration and budget has not apportioned any money to fund the pre-election campaign. However, TV Company Akhmeta actively demonstrates the meetings of Petre Tsiskarishvili, single mandate candidate from the ruling party with voters,” said Katamadze.

The candidate from the Republican Party claims that local authorities have suppressed media sources though Koba Burkiashvili, the district governor, denies it.

The administration of local TV Companies denies the accusations of the single mandate candidate. Davit Bagauri, the owner of the cable TV Station “Kakheti” told that it will take nearly two weeks to deliver equipment from the Ukraine which is needed in order to renew subtitles on the TV channel. Fati Turkiashvili, director of the “Akhmeta TV” stated that the TV Company was really founded by the district administration and they are unable to decide anything without them.

“Besides that we do not have journalists who will do the needed work. We mostly transmit programs from Rustavi 2. Sometimes we show our own items too but we do not now prepare news programs whatsoever. We do not have the technical and human resources for such activities,” stated Turkiashvili. He added that they have already actually aired several items that demonstrate Petre Tsiskarishvili’s pre-election activities.

Sighnaghi Police Hassles Election Commission Opposition Party Members

Several days ago, Sighnaghi police arrested Besik Khataishvili, commission member of the Bodbishkhevi election district in Sighnaghi Election Precinct, and a representative of Republic Party. Tengiz Bezhashvili, lawyer for Khatiashvili, reported that police detained his client based on the appeal of Tamila Dzmanashvili. Tengiz is the head of the Union of Sport Service Departments in Sighnaghi District Administration. Dzmanashvili brought a suit against former employee in same department for having made a personal insult. As he stated in his appeal, Besik Khatiashvili demanded to see documents justifying the dismissal and then proceeded to insult his client.

Based on official data, Khataishvili was running the box division in Sport’s Department. He was discharged from this position on April 5, 2008. Khataishvili stated that the reason for his dismissal was his membership in Republician Party. However, based on the Georgia Labor Law, Khatiashvil, hei had right to appeal to the court with the demand to be restored to his former position until May 7. “Consequently, I visited Tamila Dzmanashvili at the office on May 5 and asked her to provide document on my dismissal. However, she refused. Then I categorically demanded for her to provide the requested document but she then refused for a second time. I explained to Dzmanashvili that she was breaking the law and it was possible for me to take her to court over this violation. She only laughed at me and I then left the office. Soon the police were involved. Dzmanashvili stated to the police officers that I had insulted her, cursed or said something like that was not to her liking. Other employees also confirmed her testimony. Law enforcers arrested me on the same day. The police interrogated me and accused me of having committed a crime,” said Besik Khatiashvili.

Zaza Khatiashvili, single mandate candidate from the Republic Party in Sighnaghi district, stated that the local authorities and the National Movement, with the support of the police, terrorize his supporters. “The village of Bodbishkhevi is one of the difficult election districts in the Sighnaghi election precinct. Evidently, they could not win Besik Khatiahsivli over by bribing him or through various tricks. The only option was to take out their revenge against him by various methods. Now he would be labeled the status of suspect for the next one month, which will enable the ruling party to influence him. If he resists them, he will be found guilty and police will arrest him,” said Zaza Khatiahsvili.

Criminal case was launched under the Georgian Criminal Code, Article 239, Paragraph I and it envisages one-year-imprisonment.

Candidate from Opposition Party Could not Rent Office Space

Despite much effort, Zaza Abashidze, single mandate candidate from the United Opposition in Gurjaani District, could not rent office space in the centre of the town for his election campaign. Zurab Kandelaki, the head of the party’s election HQ reported that they had negotiated regarding renting office space with several people but all of them eventually refused to rent out their space to us. “Officially they did not say anything but in private talks they said that the local authorities warned they would have problems with police and the tax department if they rented out their spaces to us. Thus, Zaza Abashidze’s election HQ was placed in the regional office of the New Rights. Our HQ is on the third floor of the building,” said Zurab Kandelaki.

The Human Rights Center asked Giorgi Botkoveli, the head of the Kakheti regional HQ of the United National Movement and Irakli Kadagidze, the head of the Kakheti Police Department to make comments regarding the suppression of opposition supporters and raiding the Election HQ of the Republic Party in Kvareli. However, Botkoveli denied all accusations and Kadagidze refused to comment.