Prosecutor’s Office investigates high officials’ statements of illegal pressure

The Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia has launched two separate investigations into allegations made by two high officials about pressure being put on the President and his family members, and on court judges by law enforcers.

Yesterday President Giorgi Margvelashvili and chairman of the Constitutional Court Giorgi Papuashvili released statements of alleged misconduct by Georgian police.

Today the Chief Prosecutor’s Office said one investigation had been launched to find out whether or not Interior Ministry officers exceeded their official power when they searched Mindia Gogochuri, a man who is in an unregistered marriage with the daughter of the President’s wife, on June 28.

"Yesterday the President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili made a public statement on television [where he said] law enforcement officers had attempted to exert pressure on a member of his family, which had been manifested in the conduct of various investigative actions against the aforesaid person without appropriate legal grounds,” the Prosecutor’s Office said.

"In order to investigate the matter, the Office of the Chief Prosecutor of Georgia has requested criminal case files from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, according to which the fact of the conduct of investigative actions by police officers against Mindia Gogochuri, son-in-law of the President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili, in the scope of a particular criminal case, has been ascertained.”

"All necessary investigative actions must be conducted within the scope of the investigation initiated by the Prosecutor’s Office in order to establish whether the officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs allegedly exceeded their official powers in relation to Mindia Gogochuri.”

The Office said another separate investigation had been launched regarding allegations of gross interference in the activities of the court in order to influence the conduct of legal proceedings in the Constitutional Court of Georgia, as well as into alleged illegal obtaining and use of personal secrets.

"The President of the Constitutional Court of Georgia Mr. Judge Giorgi Papuashvili made a public statement on television alleging that purposeful pressure was being exerted on members of the Constitutional Court of Georgia with the purpose of influencing judicial decisions in ongoing legal proceedings, and information concerning personal lives of such judges may be made public [blackmail] in order to achieve the above purpose,” the Prosecutor’s Office said.

"Shortly after making his public statement, G. Papuashvili was invited to the Prosecutor’s Office to clarify details of his statement.”

"Despite the fact that initially he agreed to the proposal made by the Prosecutor’s Office, he ultimately changed his mind and refused to cooperate with and appear at the Prosecutor’s Office.”

The Office said both investigations would be thorough regarding the allegations of criminal acts committed by state officials against members of the Constitutional Court of Georgia and against the President and his family.

Meanwhile non-governmental organisations also recommended for the Constitutional Court Chairman to cooperate with the Prosecutor’s Office. 

Executive Director of the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) Nino Lomjaria said the statement Papuashvili made was "very serious” and the Court Chairman needed to cooperate with law enforcers.

"[If Papuashvili doesn’t cooperate with the investigation] it will be believed that [his allegations] had never actually happened. This will seriously harm the reputation of the Constitutional Court,” Lomjaria said.

"This will harm the image of police too because those who will believe such things actually took place will also think that the offends remained un-investigated and no one was punished.” 

Read about yesterday’s statements by the President here.