Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) and the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) will monitor the manifestation to be held by the coalition Georgian Dream on August 05, 2012 in Batumi. The monitoring will be carried out within the frames of a long-term pre-election monitoring, which entails monitoring of public meetings organized by political parties as well as realization of freedom of assembly and manifestation. Monitors will observe all developments in Batumi and throughout the regions related to organization of the August 05, 2012 assembly and mobilization and relocation of participants. GYLA and ISFED remain hopeful that the assembly will be held in a peaceful environment and the authorities will observe legal guarantees for assembly and manifestation.
2012-08-03 09:22 See moreGYLA’s Georgian Media Legal Defense Center will hold a press conference on July 31, 2011, on impounding of satellite dish antennas of Studio Maestro LLC. We believe that the decision to impound satellite dish antennas of Studio Maestro was illegal due to the following circumstances: - Court rulings on impounding Maestro’s property are unjustified and contradictory; Not only the court does not describe and evaluate any evidence, but it does not make a mention of any of them at all. The ruling provides scant theoretical and hypothetical considerations about possible vote-buying by Studio Maestro. The judge, on the one hand, refers to para.3 of article 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code, but, on the other hand, in justification part of the ruling it says that the property was impounded for a possible vote buying, which is an offence against para.2 of the Article - The norm of the Criminal Procedure Code cited by the court is unforeseeable. Specifically, para.3 of Article 151 of the Code provides for an opportunity to impound corruption related property. However, the Georgian legislation does not recognize definition of corruption; further, the court fails to substantiate in its rulings why the property of Maestro is related to corruption;
2012-08-01 14:39 See moreOn July 26, 2012, Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association held presentation of the project Promoting Accountability and Transparency in Georgia and the report prepared within its frames - Monitoring Report of Government Procurement of Outdoor Lighting Envisaged by the 2010 Budget of the Self-Governing City of Batumi. The Monitoring Report of Government Procurement of Outdoor Lighting Envisaged by the 2010 Budget of the Self-Governing City of Batumi is related to the process of carrying out government procurement key trends revealed in this process. As revealed by the monitoring report, during the work of the Tender Commission legal requirements were frequently violated, including
2012-07-31 10:00 See moreAccording to the July 26-27 media reports, 15 bank accounts of members of the Georgian Dream’s Lanchkhuti office and 15 participants of the door-to-door project were impounded. Furthermore, according to the information that we have, bank accounts of 4 activists of the Georgian Dream in Zugdidi were also impounded. As of now, owners of the bank accounts are unaware of grounds of impoundment, substantiation and evidence. They also explain that they have not received any corresponding decision. Thus, they currently lack opportunity to take any further legal actions. Georgian legislation recognizes several forms of impoundment that fall under the scope of different scopes of regulation. For instance, decision on impounding delivered on the basis of the Criminal Procedure Code can be appealed within only 48 hours, which further increases the importance of submitting the importance to interested parties in a timely manner. Currently we are unaware of the type of impounding applied, the case in relation to which it has been applied and corresponding legal grounds. Although impounding of bank accounts of the Georgian Dream’s activists has been large-scale, as confirmed by media reports, currently none of the agencies have offered official statement to explain the ongoing developments.
2012-07-30 07:07 See moreGYLA’s Georgian Media Legal Defense Center (GMLDC) responds to pressure on journalist Nodar Chachua of Channel 9 TV Company. According to the journalist, he was blackmailed by three unknown individuals, forcing him to provide information and in return, they promised financial reward. As stated by Nodar Chachua, the unknown individuals were demanding information about situation in the television company. They were also forcing him to engage in a sexual activity with a male employee of Channel 9. He also alleges that these individuals identified themselves as representatives of some “service”, who “take care of problems but also create big problems.”
2012-07-30 07:06 See moreThe Georgian Media Legal Defense Center (GMLDC) reacts to the recent facts of interference with professional work of journalists. On July 22, 2012, men dressed in civilian uniforms did not allow journalists of Info 9, who had arrived in the village of Shaumani to report on local problems, to interview local population. According to media reports, during the visit of President Saakshvili in the village of Kheta, Khobi District, on July 25, 2012, journalists were not allowed to cover the event. On July 24, 2012, in Ozurgeti, journalists of the newspaper Guria News were not allowed to cover visit of the president in Guria. As men dressed in civilian uniforms explained to journalists, they were on a secured territory, whereas video footage illustrates that movement was not restricted for security reasons. Even if it had been, the restriction clearly did not apply to journalists since other media outlets covered the event. As representatives of Guria News allege, they deleted video materials that journalists had recorded.
2012-07-27 08:59 See moreGYLA is concerned about increasing number of cases when citizens looking to discuss their problems with the president during his meetings with public are not allowed to express their opinion and moreover, become victims of violence. GYLA held a press conference on July 25, 2012, about the issue. On July 24, 2012, President of Georgia was meeting population of Tsaishi village, Zugdidi Municipality. Roza Tskabelia, one of Tsaishi’s dwellers had also arrived on the scene to attend the meeting. She was not allowed to talk to journalists about her problems and became a victim of criminal actions. It is noteworthy that this is not the first time violence was exerted against citizens looking to discuss problems during the meeting with the president. On June 16, 2012, Tsinara Abuladze, 75 who had arrived at the meeting with the president was beaten by sticks by police officers, confirmed in written by her neighbors. On September 26, 2011, in the village of Melaani, Gurhaani District, Lamzira Korchishvili, 53 who had arrived at the meeting with the president to hand him a letter, was allegedly abducted by men dressed in civilian uniforms from the neighboring territory.
2012-07-26 08:17 See moreGeorgian Young Lawyers’ Association reacts to recent amendments to the October 10, 2011 order of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia N241 on Adoption of Regulations for Registration in or Removal from Consular Registry. Pursuant to the amendments, Georgian citizens residing abroad now have to submit a place of residence certificate in addition to other documents for consular registration. We believe that the amendments may result in curtailing the constitutional right of Georgian citizens residing abroad to participate in elections. Moreover, legislation may trigger artificial grounds for loss of citizenship. Any citizen of Georgia residing abroad is authorized for consular registration – registration of citizens of Georgia residing abroad temporarily or permanently. According to the Georgian legislation, failure to present documents certifying legal residence in the host country may not serve as grounds to refuse consular registration. Nevertheless, in contradiction to the said stipulation, amendments adopted on July 11 requires for citizens of Georgia residing abroad to submit certificate of place of residence in addition to other documents for their consular registration.
2012-07-26 08:16 See moreOn July 18, 2012, the United Water Supply Company of Georgia LLC published information about a promotional campaign on its website. According to the news release, the company is launching a campaign, Pay only 50%. The campaign envisages reducing all unpaid water bills from 2010 to present for all customers in the regions by half. The campaign is effective from the fact that the campaign was launched on July 18 and will continue up until October 1 draws our particular attention. According to Giorgi Kvashilava, director of the company, “the amount currently owed to the company approximately equals to GEL 5 million, whereas the campaign will allow the population to decrease amount of their bills. In frames of the campaign customers should apply to service centers throughout the regions for determining amount that they owe. Subsequent act will be delivered to their homes by the company’s water supply agent and their bill will automatically be reduced 50%”. Since the state owns 100% of shares of the company and the campaign dates coincides with the pre-election period, raises certain questions and suspicions about whether it constitutes use of administrative resources or moreover, vote-buying.
2012-07-24 12:12 See moreWith the assistance of GYLA, a 79-year old woman was released from fine and penalty imposed by the Interior Ministry’s Patrol Police Lawyer of GYLA’s office in Tbilisi was providing legal aid to a 79-year old M.K. who was fined with GEL 700 by Main Division of the Patrol Police in Mereti, Ministry of Interior Affairs of Georgia, under paragraph 41 of Article 116 of the Code of Administrative Offences of Georgia (handing over a motor vehicle to a person under influence of alcohol, knowingly and repeatedly, throughout the year, when an individual operating the motor vehicle does not have a driving license). For her failure to pay the fine M.K was also imposed with a penalty in the amount of GEL 500. With the involvement of GYLA, court found Ms. M.K. not guilty during the trial. Subsequently, it was proved that in the process of issuing the impugned individual administrative-legal acts, circumstances of the case were poorly examined. M.K. had alienated her motor vehicle based on a verbal agreement of purchase and sale in 1996 and afterwards, she had nothing to do with the said motor vehicle. Following the decision of court, resolutions on imposition of fine and penalty for failure to pay the fine were declared null and void.
2012-07-24 09:30 See more