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Address of Human Rights Center about Alleged Premeditated Damage of Mosque in Plate Village

December 26, 2014
 
Human Rights Center is concerned about the interrogation of the deputy executive director of Human Rights Center in the Adigeni district police office on December 23-25, as well as subsequent developments. 

Based on the petition of the Muslim population of Adigeni district, on December 17, 2014, Human Rights Center addressed the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia and requested to start investigation into the alleged premeditated damage of the historical mosque (constructed in 1920s) located in Plate village and punish the perpetrators. 

The Muslim population of the Adigeni district blames the bishop of Zarzma Monastery Father Nikoloz Getsadze and his parish members in the premeditated deconstruction of the mosque in Plate village. Local Muslims believe the mosque was damaged on religious grounds. 

Regardless the significance of the issue and high public interest in it, the Chief Prosecutor’s Office did not launch the investigation into the case and forwarded it to the Adigeni district police department for investigation.

On December 23, investigator Besik Apraimashvili at Adigeni police office called the deputy executive director of Human Rights Center Tamar Avaliani on the phone and rudely demanded her to arrive in Adigeni police office to be interrogated as a witness in the case about the mosque in Plate village. He said if she had not appeared to the interrogation timely, they would use force to bring her to the police office.

Since Human Rights Center got suspicious about the ongoing process into the case, on December 24, Tamar Avaliani arrived at Adigeni district police together with the executive director of the organization. At the police office, Tamar Avaliani was interrogated through blatant violation of the procedural law. Namely, during interrogation process investigator Besik Apraimashvili often contacted unidentified persons on the phone (supposedly they were senior officers) and received instructions from them how to get desirable testimony from the lawyer. The interrogation lasted more than three hours.

As soon as the interrogation of Tamar Avaliani finished, police investigator called Mufti of Samtskhe-Javakheti region Mamuka Vashakmadze and requested him to come to the police office for interrogation. Mamuka Vashakmadze replied that he wanted to be questioned in presence of his lawyer, but Besik Apraimashvili did not allow Tamar Avaliani to be an attorney in the case because she was questioned as a witness. For that reason, Mamuka Vashakmadze requested one day to allow another lawyer of Human Rights Center to arrive in Adigeni and attend his interrogation process as his attorney. Initially, the investigator refused and gave only three hours to the Mufti but after Human Rights Center contacted media sources and protested the proposed unreasonable time to the witness, the investigator agreed to interrogate Mamuka Vashakmadze on the next day – on December 25th.

On December 25th, Imam of Tchela village mosque, Jambul Abuladze and Samtskhe-Javakheti region Mufti Mamuka Vashakmadze were questioned in Adigeni district police office as witnesses. Lawyer Nestan Londaridze of Human Rights Center attended their interrogation as attorney; the interrogation lasted 6 hours.

Human Rights Center evaluates the interrogation of the human rights defender as a witness as alarming fact. The lawyers of the organization often address to the prosecutor’s office with the request to launch investigation into different cases but they are never questioned as witnesses.  The behavior of the investigator at Adigeni district police demonstrates a threat that investigative bodies might start interrogation of human rights defenders as witnesses in the cases they monitor.

In addition to that, Human Rights Center believes that forwarding the case of Plate village mosque to the Adigeni district police by the Chief Prosecutor’s Office allegedly aims at dragging out the investigation process and leaving perpetrators unpunished because as Muslim community claims the district police was studying the case several years ago but did not reveal any perpetrators then. 

Human Rights Center addresses the Chief Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the case of alleged premeditated damage of the Plate mosque due to its sensitivity.

Human Rights Center also addresses to the General Inspection of MIA to study possible facts of exceeding power by the investigator Besik Apraimashvili of Adigeni district police for inviting human rights defender to the interrogation as a witness and for the violations observed during interrogation process. 
 
Human Rights Center

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