Why is the case of Khatuna Charaeva “Griffith Secret”?

                                                                                         Mari Otarashvili
 
On March 16 second closed trial on Khatuna Charaeva will be held in Tbilisi City Court. According to her attorney Gagi Mosiashvili from Georgian Young Lawyers Association, the case of Charaeva is declared to be Griffith Secret. Correspondingly, he has no right to inform us about case details. According to the Akhalgori residents, Georgian judiciary system is partial in regard with Charaeva, because in fact she is not a criminal but a victim of persecution on ethnic grounds. Akhalgori de-facto district administration also confirms this. As district deputy head Aleksandre Baratashvili told us, he is responsible for the honesty of Charaeva.

Closed trial on Khatuna Charavea started at 12:00 pm on March 4 in Tbilisi City Court. Accused Charaeva, judge Sanodze and attorney Mosiashvili attended the trial. First discussion ended without noise because media is not interested in this case so far. The only relative of the accused, brother-in-law of Charaeva - Merab Charaev was waiting for the end of trial in corridor.

Georgian law-enforcer officers arrested Khatuna Charaeva, resident of Akhalgori on December 21, 2009 for the possession of false money. Relatives of the accused think it is fabricated accusation and it is revenge and nothing more. Most of Akhalgori residents agree with the opinion. According to them, police secretly planted 30 000 USD on Charaeva in “Didube” station (the place she was arrested).

Within a month after the detention her attorney was not allowed to see her. Relatives had no information about her location and health conditions.

Merab Charaev, brother-in-law of Khatuna Charaeva: “Relatives could not see Khatuna after detention. Law-enforcers state her case is Griffith Secret. We are confused. We have no idea what is going on. She called her husband, my brother only once and said that her accusation was annulled. But now we wonder why she is still imprisoned then.

Initially it was clear that the accusation was fabricated. They needed some reason for her arrest. If she were arrested for false money, the policemen would have arrested the boy who was with her. So I think everything happened on political grounds”.
          
It is a bit strange why ordinary citizen Khatuna Charaeva became victim of political persecution. However, Merab Charaev (and not only he) has several arguments. “You might remember that last year 16 residents of Gremiskhevi village were detained by Ossetian side for illegal crossing of administrative border. Georgian side blamed Khatuna Charaeva that she had called Ossetian people and denounced the 16 people in illegal crossing of the border. It is complete nonsense. I can also say one more reason why Khatuna was arrested; her two children live and study in Tskhinvali. However, Khatuna has not visited them since the war in August of 2008. To tell the truth, we cannot think of other reasons. Even if she had visited her children in Tskhinvali, she could not have been arrested for it.”

The closed trial lasted 40 minutes. Having left the trial, Gagi Mosiashvili told us that the next trial was scheduled for March 16, 2010. He could not comment on anything else. However, he said in his conversation with us that old accusations were not changed; she is still blamed in possession of false money. As for her health conditions, the prisoner feels good.

It is still unclear why his case is “Griffith Secret”. However, we know the opinion of the residents of Akhalgori about Charaeva’s detention.

Tamar Mearkishvili, director of Akhalgori district Youth Palace: “Khatuna has been my neighbor for 23 years. She lives next to our house. She always had good relation with neighbors. She is hard-working person. She was looking after the cattle alone; her main income was from farming. She has three children. As soon as she was detained, we doubted the accusation on false money was fabricated charge. Who could give her so much money?! It is incredible. We could believe if they spoke about 300 – 400 Euros or USD but 30 000 USD is impossible. If it is true, I wonder who gave the money to her and where she was taking it. We think it was fabricated accusation. We are all shocked.”

Mearkishvili said residents of Akhalgori claim Charaeva was detained because of her ethnicity. She could also be detained because her children are getting high education at Tskhinvali University.

Tamar Mearkishvili: “A person shall not be punished on ethnic grounds or because of her residential area. Locals often complain about it. Everybody is asking about Khatuna. The family does not know anything about the detainee. Her children told me the officers of Georgian Special Forces asked them: “You learn in Tskhinvali, don’t you?” Khatuna’s children chose Tskhinvali high school because here they finished Akhalgori district national school N 3 in Ossetian language. They chose the university only for that reason. Otherwise, they have neither a house nor relatives in Tskhinvali. Besides that, it is easier to enter high school in Tskhinvali than in Tbilisi. Furthermore, the children entered the university before the August war.

Apparently, if somebody learns at Tskhinvali University, it is problem for the current government. I have heard from many people that Georgian side rebukes women for having sent their children to Tskhinvali high school. Because of this problem, the daughter of Khatuna cannot leave Akhalgori; she says Georgian side bothers her with unpleasant questions if she travels. Nowadays, she is completely unprotected and it is natural that she might face some problems. She prefers to stay in Akhalgori. Khatuna’s sons learn accounting in Tskhinvali. If they had studied at law or other faculty, the government could have more bothered…now I cannot realize what the problem is; why they detained Khatuna. She has often borrowed 20 GEL from me and how could she get hold of 30 000 false USD?!”

Head of de-facto administration of Akhalgori district Aleksandre (Pako) Baratashvili thinks the imprisonment of Charaeva is unfair. “She is very good, honest and hard-working person. I cannot believe that she had any connection with false dollars. I am responsible for the honesty of this person. I think, it is pure provocation by Georgian Special Forces against Charaeva.”