New unit to investigate crimes committed by public servants
Tweet 
Share
Georgia’s Chief Prosecutor’s Office has a brand new department to handle criminal cases committed by public servants.
The Department of Investigation of Offenses Committed in Legal Proceedings was created in the Office of the Chief Prosecutor and will investigate crimes committed by public servants where their actions resulted in citizens’ suffering physical and/or material damage.
Specifically, the new unit will initially focus on investigating alleged instances of criminal acts mentioned in claims or statements filed with the Office since October 1, 2012.
Of these cases, investigative priority will be given to crimes involving unlawful deprivation of property and acts of violence, which include beating and torture, inhumane and degrading treatment and all crimes in which a public servant or an equivalent person is accused.
The new department will be staffed by 20 people – head of the department, deputy head, four prosecutors, 10 investigators and four coordinators.
"In the process of staffing the department, high public interest was taken into account and the selection of personnel was carried out with extreme caution,” the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia said.
"The people who were appointed investigators and prosecutors in the department [are people who] have no legal complaint recorded against their name in the claims and statements filed with the Office of the Chief Prosecutor of Georgia.”
Furthermore, the Office also said due to high public interest in the cases yet to be investigated, a decision was made to establish the role of coordinators to victims. People in this role will continuously provide information to victims interested in the outcome of the case, provide information regarding the progress of the investigation and consult them on legal issues.
An official presentation about the new Department of Investigation of Offenses Committed in Legal Proceedings will be held on March 4.
"Restoration of violated rights of our citizens has its rules and we cannot artificially speed up the process”, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said today while presenting a new department of the Chief Prosecutor’s Office.
Five former public officials have been accused of forced confiscation of private property from Georgian citizens.
The Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia has ensured the return of hundreds of thousands of GEL worth of property illegally confiscated by former officials of the previous government.
Georgia’s former Interior Minister Ivane (Vano) Merabishvili and former Chief Prosecutor Zurab Adeishvili are facing new criminal charges that stem back to 2004 and relate to unlawful seizure of property.
Today the Chief Prosecutor’s Office officially charged four former top officials for being involved in the illegal detainment and torture of Elberd Koberidze – a resident of the eastern Gali region.
If found guilty, the offenders could spend 17 years in prison.
Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia meets victims
Five people who were accused of breaking the law and had their properties seized by the United National Movement-led government will soon have their real estate returned.
Three men sent to jail by the previous government did not commit the crimes they were convicted of, says the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia.
The Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office has returned a hospital building located in the Zugdidi region of western Georgia to its legal owners, which was illegally seized in 2007 under the previous United National Movement (UNM) leadership.