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Resolution of the President That Is Not Envisaged in Adjara

April 23, 2009

Maka Malakmadze, Batumi

More than 120 families have their ownership on the plots assigned by the special commission of the Kobuleti Municipality Board abolished. The owners of the plots were reported about the abolished rights several months later and only after the attorneys took up the case the commission sent them the decision on abolishment the ownership. Vera Bezhanidze’s case, one of the former owners, is being discussed by Kobuleti district court.

Based on the president’s resolution issued on September 15, 2007 hundreds of owners had the plots, previously appropriated by them, legally registered. According to the decision of the commission the owners had these plots deprived. Kobuleti residents assess the fact as violation of their rights. The Human Rights Center met some of them.

Vera Bezhanidze, resident of the village of Kvirike in Kobuleti district had the ownership certificate N 14317, issued by the Commission on June 3, 2008, abolished within 16 days. However, the commission delivered the notification about its decision only on March 30, 2009.

“There was tea-plantation there and I was picking tea-leaves. After the president enacted the law we applied to the commission for the registration of the land. There was nobody who could appeal against us. We had nothing to argue about regarding this plot. Afterwards, the plot was deprived from our neighbor and we heard rumors that other certificates on ownership were abolished either. My husband visited the Public Registry but the plot was still our legal property. Afterwards, we were told in private talks that the ownership was cancelled. However, we were not given the resolution. I managed to get the document with the support of the attorney. I cultivated the plot for 10 years; I had an iron booth there where a shop was working there. We live nearby,’ said Vera Bezhanidze.

The Bezhanidzes were registered as a separate subscriber by the energy distribution company “Energo-Pro Georgia’ in August, 2008. The family holds the extract from the Public Registry that was issued after the resolution on the abolishment of the ownership was enacted.

The plot, owned by Rusudan Gugushvili, is next to Bezhanidze’s plot. The plot was registered on Gugushvili on October 27, 2008 but on December 9 it was canceled again. She was not reported about it.

“I have three little orphans. I live in the half-destroyed buildings of the local collective farm. The old government granted my mother-in-law with the former rubbish-damp with the total space of 9000 sq. meters to cultivate. It was registered on us. But several months later we heard the decision was cancelled. They are breaching our rights of ownership and we have appealed to the court,” said Rusudan Gugushvili.

Lawyer Tengiz Kakhidze represents Gugushvili and Bezhanidze at the Kobuleti district court. Kakhidze stated the commission breaches the rights of the owners. “These people had their ownership certificates abolished without any explanations in secret. And the only motive for similar action is very suspicious and strange, “these people have not appropriated the plots willfully,’ that means the president’s resolution envisaged registration of the selfishly occupied land; the plots were registered on people but later it was found out to be illegal,’ said the attorney.

“Before these territories were assigned as private properties, there was terrible anti-sanitary there; however, after the owners cleaned the area and it looked nicer, certain people or groups of people decided to sell the land at a high price.”

According to the spread information sport complex is being constructed on the land that will be deprived from two owners. Sulkhan Takidze, the chairperson of the commission for granting the ownership certificates, denied the information in his conversation with us.

Since the commission was set up in Kobuleti, chairperson of the municipality board Sulkhan Takidze is also the chairperson of this commission. Takidze reported to the Human Rights Center that the commission made mistake while assigning the plots on people.

Sulkhan Takidze: “We put up the notice about the decision of the commission regarding the abolishment of our previous decisions on the information board in our office. There are cases when the notifications are not delivered to people. Gugushvili was visiting the commission office almost every day and we informed her. After we made final decision we sent the notification to her. I cannot be punished instead of the Public Registry.”

-Who is responsible to deliver the notifications about the abolishment of the ownership to the property-owners?

-Secretary of the commission is responsible for that but the resolution is in force after they are delivered. So, it does not create any obstacles for property-owners. If the court decides that the citizen is right I have no problem at all. I think the commission does not make many mistakes but there are some faults on our work. All in all, I assess the activities of our commission as positive. If it passed any wrong decision people can appeal to the court.

-Based on which resolution the ownership was abolished on those plots?

-These plots were assigned to the people based on the testimonies of false witnesses. Show me the law which states that the commission is entitled to examine the territory on the place. If it is still necessary we will publish the testimonies of the false witnesses. Picking tea-leaves does not mean that a person is owner of the plot. We have made the mistake but we corrected it. The owner had not fenced the plot; she did not cultivate it at all.

-How could she pick tea-leaves in the plantation which was not cultivated for two and three years?

-It is impossible.

-That means the family of Bezhanidzes cultivated the land since they picked the tea-leaves.

-Did Bezhanidze have the plot fenced?

-Gugushvili did not have a tea plantation. The territory was former rubbish damp and she was cultivating it.

-She was not cultivating it and we took the property from her.

-How can you prove it?

-We examined the plot.

-Don’t you think that the commission should be charged for having committed so many mistakes?

-Why should we be charged? The commission has enacted the administrative act and according to the Administrative Code we can abolish the previous decisions.

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