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Observers Haunted with an Axe and Weapon

May 27, 2008

Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti

 The parliamentary elections of May 21, 2008 were held in Kakheti Region with brutal infringements of the rights prescribed under the Georgian Constitution and requirements of the Election Code. In the precincts the observers from Georgian NGOs were barred from being able to normally observe the election process. They were not able to write complaints. Several observers were physically abused and even ousted from the polling stations.

The chairpersons of the district and precinct election commissions and the representatives of the United National Movement used criminals who stood outside polling stations to intimidate the observers. These criminals had been released from prisons several days prior to Election Day. When the commission members could not frighten the ndependent observers the criminals who had been convicted for robbery, murder and other felonies were started intimidating them directly in election rooms. The observers were threatened to be killed with a knife that some other weapon would be used

“I observed the elections in Ganjala Precinct # 20, Lagodekhi District. I observed many election violations immediately after the polling station was opened. The seal on the ballot paper package was not intact. The UV lamp and the invisible ink were not functioning and therefore the invisible ink was not sprayed on the voters’ fingers, consequently, the one and the same people had already voted several times. We, independent observers wrote complaints on these violations but Alaidin Rustamov, the commission secretary did not register any of our complaints. Parkhad Musaev, the PEC chairperson was shouting at us. He was using foul language and even tried to hit us. I did not see any demonstrative or summary protocols in the precinct. The election results were not written in the summary protocol. The PEC chairperson had a stamp, record book and did not give anyone. He disappeared regularly from the polling station with them for hours. At 9:37 Guram Kakalashvili, the United National Movement single mandate MP candidate entered the polling site with tens of muscled, tall men and used extremely bad language against the observers. A man called Shoshiashvili, who was with Kakalashvili’s group turned out to be a CEC representative. He also used foul language against the observers and the voters. People were beating each other. At that time the ballot papers were stuffed into the ballot box. I demanded Kakalashvili to leave the polling station but in stead he used foul language against me. I wrote a complaint on this fact which made the infuriated PEC chairperson even crazier. He tried to beat me but a person named Kutibashvili grabbed him by his arm and took away.

At about 13:30 all the oppositional PEC members and proxies left the polling station for not having normal working conditions and numeral incidents of treat. I did not leave and was left alone against the representatives of the United National Movement. The UNM representatives were shouting at me. They took away all my complaint forms and tore them.  In the end they tried to beat me, consequently, I left the polling station,” states Marina Zardiashvili, a journalist and the observer of the Human Rights Center.

The observers were not able to monitor the election process at the Uzuntali Precinct # 21, Lagodekhi District as well. For some vague reason Nato Sarkisashvili, the Human Rights Center observer was threatened by Shoshiashvili, the CEC representative to be ousted from the polling station, but another representative of independent   NGO New Generation- New Initiative was not.  Isako Tskipurishvili, the United National Movement single mandate MP candidate told Sarkisashvili that if she decided to write a complaint he would “smash her head to the wall”.

I personally, observed the elections in Kabli Precinct # 18, Lagodekhi District as the representative of the Human Rights Center. Immediately after entering the polling site I saw that the ballot papers had been taken out of the polling station, signed and taken into the precinct for placement into the ballot box. I protested against this procedure. I demanded from Adalat Sardarov, the PEC chairperson to prevent this illegal activity. Hardly had I finished my words when Sardarov took an iron chair and threw it to my direction. Then he physically assaulted me together with some other PEC members. I addressed the police officer responsible for order outside and inside the polling station numerous times, but all my efforts were in vain. I called the Lagodekhi District Department of the Ministry of Interior. Though the law enforcers came on my call but they did not trouble themselves by putting bringing order inside of the polling station. Moreover, a police officer who representative  himself as the deputy head of Lagodekhi Police Department asked the chairperson pointing at me if there were any people at the polling station who violated the order and therefore had to be ousted.

I had to leave the polling station when a group of armed people broke into the building. I stayed for a while outside the polling station. I saw two MP candidates of the United National Movement- Guram Kakalashvili and Isako Tskipurishvili coming into the polling site. They were accompanied with several people with whom I did not know. One was from the MP candidates’ entourage. He came to me and pointed a pistol gun in my direction. He also used bad language and warned if I did not stop informing the international observers about violations that he would kill me. At the same time I felt cold object touching my throat. About 30-year- old man with NGO Ratsio Legi observer’s certificate holding a knife in one hand grabbed me by my arm and demanded to leave the polling site immediately. When I was a safe distance from the strangers I called on the law enforcers for help but to no effect.  The deputy head of the police department stated that he did not see anything at all.

When the observers spotted stuffing of ballot papers in the box at a precinct in Kabali and tried to write a complaint, the PEC chairperson and deputy chairperson threatened them an axe.

The observers were persecuted at other precincts of Kakheti region as well. However, the greatest intensity was among the precincts that are mostly inhabited by ethnic minorities.

The observers of the Human Rights Center addressed the Office of the Prosecutor General with an official letter informing them on abuse and intimidation of HRIDC observers but the criminal cases have not been started as yet.


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