Public Defender rejects allegations over ID cards confiscation during parliamentary elections

Levan Ioseliani, the Georgian Public Defender, rejected the domestic opposition’s allegations of taking away identification cards from citizens for using them multiple times during the October 26 parliamentary elections.

In his interview with Palitranews on Friday, Ioseliani noted it was “impossible” that in case of ID card confiscation, not a single person had declared about it.

“I can't believe over 100,000 people had their ID cards deprived of and not a single individual declared [about it]. We've been asking for two months that if there are such individuals whose ID cards were forcibly taken away, to submit an appeal in this regard, [but] there is no one who would say I am that person whose ID card was forcibly confiscated”, he said.

The Public Defender also rejected claims allegedly 350,000 people had been transferred to different polling stations through the so-called “carousel” method for voting multiple times, adding such “absurd statements” could not be believed.

“To transport 350,000 people to different areas [precincts] would require about 30,000 minibuses or over 10,000 buses. [And] all these [allegedly] happened in a way that no one in this country could not learn anything [about this alleged manipulation], I can't believe it”.

Ioseliani also admitted procedural violations in the general elections, citing the written complaints and the conclusion of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, though he added it was not his prerogative to talk about the legitimacy of the elections.