Categories
Journalistic Survey
Articles
Reportage
Analitic
Photo Reportage
Exclusive
Interview
Foreign Media about Georgia
Editorial
Position
Reader's opinion
Blog
Themes
Children's Rights
Women's Rights
Justice
Refugees/IDPs
Minorities
Media
Army
Health
Corruption
Elections
Education
Penitentiary
Religion
Others

Bank Seizes Pension from Disabled Pensioner Instead of Loan

November 12, 2007

72-year-old Shota Gorgadze applied to the Human Rights Center’s Adjara Bureau. He needed legal assistance while appealing against the decision made by Batumi Civil Court on October 16, 2007.

According to the decision, Khatuna Bolkvadze, the judge at the Batumi Civil Court, did not satisfy the suit of Shota Gorgadze. More precisely, Shota Gorgadze worked in the Batumi Branch of People’s Bank as an expert-appraiser since 2000. In May, 2007 his wife died and the bank rendered him financial aid and gave the loan of 770 lari. He had to cover it gradually (with monthly payment of 102 lari) based on his salary of 350 lari within eight months. But a month later he was fired from the work and now the value of his loan should be stopped from his pension that is 48 lari a month.

Gorgadze’s family consists of six members and only daughter-in-law gets a salary of eighty lari a month. The sick daughter of the Gorgadzes, whose husband recently died, lives with them. Gorgadze has appealed to the court but the Batumi Civil Court took into consideration neither poor social conditions and nor the Law on Pension.

“The only income for me is my pension which in fact is annihilated. They should leave at least small part from my pension to live on. Do they have similar right under the current law? If they let me take half of my pension I will not starve and can afford to buy at least one loaf of bread. How should I eat the bread which my daughter-in-law buys with her small salary for my grandchildren? “-asked disabled person.

Bakur Bolkvadze the lawyer for the Human Rights Centre, stated it is illegal to stop more than 50% from somebody’s pension: “Although the Article 19 of the Georgian Law on State Pension envisages to stop pension according to the court decision or a competent body, herewith the section III of the same article imperatively indicates that only 50% of the pension can be detained according to the court decision. Unfortunately, in the abovementioned case the court did not discuss the necessity of this imperative norm and passed unfair verdict through ignoring the norm.”

Now Shota Gorgadze expects the Appeal Court to pass fair decision. But before that he goes to the Batumi Gold Exchange where he checks the quality of the purchased gold for very rather a small price. “Sometimes I could not earn anything at all. Sometimes I earn 1 or 2 lari a day.”


                    Maka Malakmadze, Batumi

News