/ world today news/ Big America and little Georgia continue to fight with full force. No sooner had their dispute over the Foreign Agents Act died down than a new one erupted. The State Department has imposed sanctions on four high-ranking Georgian judges, accusing Themis officials of corruption. This caused anger in Tbilisi. Even if there are claims against these judges, is it not the internal business of a small and proud republic?
A new scandal in relations between Georgia and the United States began on Wednesday night – with the gentlemen from across the Ocean apparently starting first. For the first time in the history of relations between the two countries, Washington imposed sanctions on Tbilisi. More precisely, he imposed visa restrictions on four members of the Supreme Council of Justice of Georgia – the governing body of the “third branch” of power, as if guaranteeing its independence.
Mihail Chinchaladze, Levan Murusidze, Irakli Shengelia and Valerian Tsertsvadze were blacklisted. In addition, Chinchaladze is the chairman of the Court of Appeal of Georgia. As the head of the State Department, Anthony Blinken, said, these individuals are “abusing their official position” and thus “undermining the rule of law and public trust in the Georgian judicial system.” Under the restrictive measures were not only the employees of Themis themselves, but also their closest relatives.
“Corruption and interference in the judicial system hinder Georgia’s European integration. The US continues to support the European aspirations of Georgia and the Georgian people. The decision on sanctions was made with this very goal in mind,” US Ambassador to Tbilisi Kelly Degnan said on that occasion (apparently she prepared the list for Blinken’s signature).
As the diplomat emphasized in his video address, decent and professional judges in Georgia should be able to act “without pressure, threats and interference.” Degnan admitted that the republic has made progress in judicial reforms, but “more work needs to be done” as this is again necessary for the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration. “Georgia needs a truly impartial and independent judiciary,” she said.
On Thursday morning, three of the country’s leading politicians immediately issued a sharp rebuke on the matter: the leader of the ruling party, the head of the foreign ministry and the deputy speaker of the parliament. Foreign Minister Ilya Darchiashvili sent a letter to his American counterpart, Anthony Blinken, in which he drew attention to the fact that the punishments were made public “without providing any evidence.” “We hope that the State Department will provide the relevant evidence or reconsider its decision,” the letter reads. “Otherwise, the Georgian state and the people of Georgia will perceive what is happening as pressure on an independent court of a sovereign state and gross interference in its affairs, which will harm the long-term friendly relations between Georgia and the United States,” Darchiashvili wrote.
The foreign minister reminded Blinken of the “heaviest legacy” in the judicial system from the period of Mikheil Saakashvili’s rule 2003-2012. According to the minister at that time, the court was actually a “department of the prosecution” and “a unit in the repressive machine of a authoritarian state”. According to him, the authorities have already carried out four waves of fundamental judicial reform – and now, according to studies by international organizations, more than half of Georgian citizens trust the courts, consider them independent and fair.
Archil Talakvadze, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, in an interview with “Rustavi 2” TV, called the decision of the State Department “categorically unacceptable”. “This is unfair given our strategic partnership with the US,” he said.
The harshest of all was the chairman of the ruling “Georgian Dream” Irakli Kobakhidze, who called Washington’s behavior “outrageous.” “I am forced to give a very hard assessment of the decision taken by the USA. They don’t see us as a country,” Kobakhidze complained in an interview with the Imedi TV channel. “Talk to us according to the rules,” he addressed the American side. “This is our categorical demand. We will not stand on one leg. We will defend our sovereignty and state independence in all directions. This is our firm position”, he added.
Kobakhidze also suggested that the American officials themselves, who prepared the documents for the signature of the head of the State Department, pursued selfish interests. “It is particularly outrageous that Blinken exposed it. It is clear that he does not go to sleep and wake up thinking about Georgia. He has better things to do. But when such an incorrect document is given to him for signature, it speaks of corruption processes”, said the head of the ruling party. He recalled other cases in the recent past when American diplomats made “attempts to politicize the justice system” of the republic.
“We are witnessing a brazen violation of the country’s sovereignty. Of course, this was not some kind of force action, no one used a weapon, “commented Gulbaat Rtshiladze, a former employee of the presidential administration of Georgia, head of the Eurasia Institute. “It’s just that America denied access to these four gentlemen. If you think about it, a very light penalty. But she caused quite a stir. For example, today Murusidze said: “If they destroy me physically, I will accept it with dignity.” Absolutely hysteria. The whole system of power already has a headache, because it has long been tied to the Americans”, adds the source.
According to the expert, this is the first warning gesture: “America has shown that, if desired, it can quickly destabilize small Georgia.” All this is done in order to gradually force the government to take an anti-Russian position. This is a warning: we must obey completely.
According to Nikolay Silaev, a senior researcher at MGIMO’s Center for Caucasian Issues and Regional Security, the scandal with the judges erupted shortly after the story of the foreign agents law, which again had to be removed from consideration by the Georgian parliament under pressure from Washington. According to him, the two events did not coincide by any chance.
“The Americans make it clear that they are not joking, that they are ready to introduce punitive measures against representatives of the Georgian authorities. To begin with, they chose those who “would not be too sorry,” for indeed there was doubt in the appointment of the said four judges. That is, Washington doses its pressure in this way. He managed to do everything carefully so as not to immediately destroy relations with Tbilisi. But it is clear that this is a one-way street. Sanctions are introduced once and will never be lifted,” the expert said.
on March 7-8, thousands of people protested against the drafting of the bill on foreign agents in Tbilisi. During the rallies, the police used water cannons and tear gas, and some of the demonstrators rioted, trying to storm the parliament building. On the morning of March 9, the ruling Georgian Dream party agreed to withdraw the bill.
Kelly Degnan says the sanctions are intended to “help reform” the justice system. But it is generally accepted that such a reform is an institutional job. And here it turns out that the US itself decides which individuals to work in this system. “An employee in the State Department today became crooked and imposed sanctions,” ironically Silaev.
“Let’s say that the self-governing bodies of the Georgian ‘third power’, which actually appointed all these four, will now start reassigning them, replacing them. So, where is the composition of the High Council of Justice determined? At the US embassy? But this is not an idea that can be pushed on Georgian voters. Even if the voters don’t like Levan Murusidze personally,” the expert said, adding that the entire Georgian opposition “is terribly inspired at the moment.”
Indeed, the leader of Saakashvili’s United National Movement party, Levan Khabeishvili, has already called for a nationwide rally on Sunday, April 9. He hinted that after the imposition of American sanctions, the country should prepare for a peaceful revolution. According to Mr. Habeishvili, the main reason for the imposition of sanctions is the imprisonment of Saakashvili and media manager Nika Gvaramiya, whom the opposition considers political prisoners.
Opposition lawmaker Khatuna Samnidze said parliamentarians plan to call on President Salome Zurabishvili to call an emergency session in the near future to approve the creation of a commission of inquiry. The commission must undertake an analysis of the situation in which the local Themis finds itself. The consent of 50 deputies is necessary for the creation of an inquiry commission. The opposition has 56 mandates.
Who are the blacklisted judges?
The sanctioned judges held high posts both under Saakashvili and after the “Georgian Dream” came to power. Georgia Court of Appeals Judge for Life Murusidze has already called the State Department’s decision an attempt to subjugate “Georgian justice to the United States.” He denied all the charges.
Murusidze is the most scandalous judge in the republic because of verdicts in high-profile cases during the Saakashvili years. Murusidze himself is justified by the fact that he is guided by the laws that were in force at that time and cannot make other decisions. The opposition claims that it is he who manages the “judge clan” and supposedly fulfills the tasks of the rulers in relation to political competitors.
According to the property declaration, the second person on the blacklist, Mikhail Chinchaladze, is poor and owns a luxury villa. The already mentioned colleague of Saakashvili, the former head of the TV channel “Rustavi 2” Niko Gvaramiya, complained about Chinchaladze’s pressure on the judges in his case. The name of the third person involved – Iraklii Shengelia, is associated with cases of surobajanism. His wife, sister and niece started working in the judiciary after his appointment.
A fourth defendant, Valerian Tsertsvadze, as head of the Tbilisi Court of Appeal, was linked to a story that questioned his impartiality in a case between two private companies. Close to the judge turned out to be the owners of the company in whose favor the case ended. But Tsertsvadze managed to catch State Secretary Blinken in a factual error.
“I want to point out that I have not held a judicial or other public office for six years now, so the reference to me as a permanent judge is clearly a deliberate distortion of the facts,” he said.
Exporters of “color revolutions”
On Thursday evening, information emerged, on the basis of which observers assumed that, strictly speaking, the first new quarrel began not in Washington, but in Tbilisi.
It became known that a few days ago the American expert Jameson Marshall Comins was not allowed in Georgia. The reason is the possible participation of the guest in organizing the riots on March 7-8. The head of the State Security Service, Grigol Liluashvili, said entry was denied “based on specific information from highly credible sources,” adding that the US Embassy had not contacted the Service since then. “Probably the embassy itself knows the reasons for the refusal,” admitted Liluashvili.
The Georgian press noted that the American met with a professor at one of the Georgian universities, Georgi Meladze, and he, in turn, created a student movement that actively participated in the demonstrations. The media reported that Komins advised Meladze on organizing protests and also conducted training for radical youth.
If so, then it appears that on Wednesday the US State Department only “responded asymmetrically” to the attack by the Georgian special services.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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