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Kakheti Regional Administration Warmed Over Former Law Enforcers for Leadership of Kakheti Districts

December 1, 2008

Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti

The Human Rights Center and the Club of Kakhetian NGOs expresses its protest against the possible appointment of Giorgi Chiviashvili, the Tbilisi Prosecutor on the position of Gurjaani District Governor. Representatives of local NGOs operating in the region consider that the police regime will be strengthened in Kakheti Region with the appointment of Giorgi Chiviashvili as Gurjaani District Governor because of his involvement in various law enforcing bodies since 2002. This fact is even more alarming because Giorgi Ghviniashvili, the Kakheti Regional Governor is the former Prosecutor of Tbilisi.

The Gurjaani Sakrebulo announced a vacancy for the Gurjaani District Governor and Giorgi Chiviashvili applied for the position on Friday.

Giorgi Chiviashvili had been working as the advisor in the Division for the Official Control of Discipline and Protection of Legality in Penitentiary Institutions within the General Inspection of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia in 2002-2003. He also worked as an investigator in the Department of Investigation within the State Security Ministry of Georgia from August 2004 and from January 2005, he worked as the investigator in the Division for the Investigation of Crime against State of the Investigation Department within the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia (MIA). In April 2005, he began working as the investigator of the Division for Combating against International Terrorism within the Counterintelligence Department of MIA from. Since July 22, 2006 he has been working as Tbilisi City Prosecutor.

He is strongly supported by Giorgi Ghviniashvili, current Kakheti Regional Governor.

NGOs in Kakheti were informed that Gurjaani Sakrebulo members were instructed by the Kakheti Regional Governor’s Office to choose Giorgi Chiviashvili for the position of Gurjaani District Governor. Members of Gurjaani’s Sakrebulo confirm this information in private conversations but refuse to make any official comments in this regard. They say if they openly voice their positions on the matter, they will face a range of potential problems. One of Gurjaani Sakrebulo members told us that Kakheti Regional Governor (Giorgi Ghviniashvili) threatened the Sakrebulo members that if they did not support Chiviashvili’s candidacy, they would be arrested.

We tried to call Giorgi Ghviniashvili many times and find out if he really threatened the Gurjaani Sakrebulo members and if he is actually interfering with the work of Gurjaani body of self- governance -Sakrebulo. However, Ghviniashvili has so far not answered his phone.

Giorgi Sibashvili, deputy Governor of Kakheti Region told us that Giorgi Chiviashvili has the Kakheti Regional Governor’s support and “he must become the Gurjaani District Governor by all means, and it does not matter if he is the appropriate person for the position or not.” Members of the Club of Kakhetian NGOs explained that Chiviashvili does not have a minimum of one year experience as a manager, which is one of the requirements for the applicants.

After Giorgi Ghviniashvili was appointed as the Kakheti Regional Governor, many new faces appeared at various leading positions of Kakheti Regional bodies of local governance. The new governor at the time had appointed the former employees of Medea Mezvrishvili, former Telavi District Governor (notorious official during Eduard Shevardnadze’s presidency and who is considered to have been involved in high level corruption). For instance, Levan Gamsakhurdia who had been working as the Telavi Deputy District Governor and the head of the Division of Agriculture at various times with Media Mezvrishvili. Then he became the head of election HQ of Nana, candidate in Kvareli District single mandate MP in Parliamentary Elections in 2003. Levan Gamsakhurdia was elected the Kvareli District Governor by the Kvareli Sakrebulo after Giorgi Ghviniashvili became the Kakheti Regional Governor.

Nodar Kochlamazashvili, former Georgian MP and the head of Sighnaghi Educational Resource Center was appointed as the District Governor of Sighnaghi.

We found out that Levan Baghashvili will have to leave the post of Dedeplistskaro District Governor in the near future. Rumors suggest that Vazha Kadagidze is the future Dedoplistskaro District Govenor. The Dedoplistskaro District Govenor’s Office administration neither confirms nor denies this information. Vazha Kadagidze is the uncle of Irakli Kadagidze, head of Kakheti Regional Division of the MIA and he had been working as Dedeplistskaro District Governor since 2001-2002.

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