GYLA Once More Reminds Ministry of Interior of Its Duties

The Georgian Young Lawyers Association commented on the reply of the Ministry of Interior to the accusations of opposition supporters. The reply was published on the website of the Ministry of Interior. “According to the Ministry of Interior, the victims of incidents have not applied to the police for help. The Young Lawyers Association reminded the Ministry of Interior of Article 261 of the Criminal Procedural Code of Georgia which states that “if an investigator and prosecutor are informed about a crime committed they are required to start an investigation within their competence,” said Tamar Khidasheli, chairperson of the GYLA. She added that the Association pays attention to the fact that in some cases patrol police cars were moving around the place where activists of opposition parties were physically assaulted.

“Consequently, they not only personally witnessed the human rights violation but they were obliged to react to them,” said Khidasheli. The GYLA cannot accept the statement of the Ministry of Interior about the incident that occurred at 11:00 pm on April 11 “which lasted for a short time and the involvement of patrol policemen was not necessary.”

The GYLA once more calls upon the Ministry of Interior to guarantee the security of demonstrators, to eradicate violence, to immediately investigate each incident and to impose relevant liability on patrol policemen who showed professional negligence during the incident.

Source: Pirveli