Prosecutor General’s annual report shows 272 corruption inquiries in 2021

The principal 2021 achievements, challenges and ongoing priorities of the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia were in focus in the annual report presented by the Prosecutor General Irakli Shotadze to the Parliament this week.

Shotadze presented figures from the past year to lawmakers, revealing 117 public servants and law enforcement employees had been among the 431 individuals charged with committing crime throughout 2021.

His report said 59 out of the 117 individuals were representatives of the Interior Ministry and local self-government bodies.

In 2021, investigations were launched into 272 criminal cases related to corruption offences, Shotadze told MPs, adding complaints, information obtained from law enforcement operational activities and data provided by the State Audit Office and the Financial Monitoring Service had been used for the inquiries.

The Prosecutor’s Office also launched criminal prosecution against 280 individuals, including 16 legal entities. The Prosecutor General also revealed a 50-60 percent reduction in the number of convicted adults and underage individuals since 2010, with 23,684 inmates in penitentiary facilities in 2010 compared to 9,203 in 2021.

The main takeaways of the document also included a development strategy of the state body, in addition to criminal policy, juvenile jurisdiction, professional qualification, proactive informing of the public, efforts for raising trust and international relations.

Shotadze said its current priorities were combating inhumane treatment, intolerance offenses, money laundering, trafficking and transnational crime.