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Imprisonment outside Prison

April 25, 2016
Kristine Pakhomov

Giorgi Pavliashvili spent 8 years in prison for the use-possession of narcotic substances.After the release, his driving license was suspended for 5 years. Giorgi Pavliashvili is a driver by profession and as he said, suspending his driving license is equal to restriction his right to work.

In accordance to the law, a drug-user has his/her driving license suspended for 3 years after he/she leaves prison. In case of a graver charge (possession/dealing), this term is 5 years.

Giorgi Pavliashvili applied to Human Rights Center for legal assistance. Lawyer of the Center Nestan Londaridze told humanrights.ge that it is important that Giorgi Pavliashvili had right to drive a car to keep his family.

“Giorgi Pavliashvili should have opportunity to feel himself a plenipotentiary member of the society. He wants to work and do some good for the society,” lawyer Nestan Londaridze said.

Pavliashvili has been unsuccessfully applying for job for 8 months already. The only income in his family is salary of his wife.

“My wife is a teacher and her salary is our only income. We have a student child. I have no chance to work in the public agency but cannot earn my living with my profession - to work as a taxi-driver. Many people are in my situation, including my friends,” Giorgi Pavliashvili said.

Head of the Union “New Vector” Koka Labartkava, whose organization strives to support reintegration and rehabilitation of drug-users, said that since 2007 repressive narco-policy is implemented in the country which aims to punish and persecute drug-addicts.

“The current state policy resulted into criminalization and isolation of drug-users. As a result, health conditions and social-economic state of drug-users have worsened. They are punished with the same penalties as offenders in grave crimes like: murder, robbery and rape. Besides that, drug-addicts’ right to work is restricted. For example they cannot realize their own resources for 3, 5 or more years,” Koka Labartkava said.

He added that Georgian Network of Drug-Users, together with the Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center and Georgian Harm Reduction Network, submitted a collective lawsuit to the Constitutional Court of Georgia against deprived right to work. Labartkava said the trial will be held in near future and hopes the Court decision will promote better defense of the rights of drug-users and their integration into the society.

“This fact damages the drug-users and their family members too. When you cannot get a job in a public agency and a private employer does not trust you, the only solution is to get self- employed. However, these people are deprived of this right too and they cannot earn their living even by taxi-driving,” Koka Labartkava said.

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