Parliamentary inquiry deliberates on facts of human rights violations under UNM Gov’t

The Parliament’s Temporary Investigative Commission examining crimes committed by the former United National Movement Government between 2003 and 2012 on Monday held a hearing focusing on the facts of human rights violations under the former Government.

During the session, Valeri Gelashvili discussed the construction of the presidential residence and the details of the sale of the house he owns next to the presidential residence.

According to him, the conflict between him and the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili began after he demanded compensation for the work done by his company for the construction of the presidential residence.

As Gelashvili noted, in 2005, he gave an interview to a newspaper about the conflict, after which, about two weeks later, on July 14, while driving his own car in Tbilisi, he was attacked by special forces and seriously injured, including leg bone fracture.

He further added that the attack was led by Erekle Kodua, the director of the Special Operations Department under the former Government, who carried out the order of Ivane Merabishvili, the Interior Minister under the former Government, while Merabishvili himself acted on the instructions of Saakashvili.

As Gelashvili noted, during the attack, his bodyguard was also physically assaulted and a firearm, money, and valuables in his legal possession were stolen from his car. He claimed that the Government intended to baptize the attack as a business attack to deceive the public.

According to him, after the attack, he was not provided with appropriate medical assistance at the medical facility, and only after the intervention of doctors brought from abroad was his health condition stabilized and he was transferred abroad for further treatment, which saved his life.

He further added that after returning to Georgia in 2006 his authority as a member of the Parliament was illegally suspended.

He also discussed the pressure exerted by the authorities upon his return to Georgia to cede various real estate properties, as well as the interference of the United National Movement party in the elections during the October 1, 2012 parliamentary elections in the city of Khashuri, where he was running.

The Commission also questioned Gocha Kakoishvili, who was arrested several times during the previous Government for his active opposition activities.

During the session, Kakoishvili said that in May 2011, he was arrested and taken to a temporary detention center, where for a month, he was beaten, tortured, and given small amounts of food and water only once every two-three days.

As he noted, he suffered such severe health injuries in the temporary detention center that he was forced to leave Georgia and travel abroad for treatment, where his treatment process continues to this day.

The Commission also questioned Besik Danelia, who discussed the facts of violations of his rights, those of his family members, and relatives under the Ynited National Movement Government.

According to Danelia, on May 21, 2011, he and his family members were attacked by about twenty police officers armed with batons, chains, and brass knuckles in Gldani. They physically assaulted him and threw him down the stairs of a metro station, resulting in a spinal injury and multiple fractures.

As he noted, his family members were also injured in the attack.

Danelia believed that the orders to inhumanely treat opposition-minded citizens came from Saakashvili, Merabishvili, and Gigi Ugulava, the Mayor of Tbilisi under the UNM Government.

He further discussed the details of the dispersal of opposition rallies during the previous Government.

The Commission also questioned Lasha Arkania, who discussed his illegal detention and torture in 2011.

During the session, Arkania said that on June 14, 2011, in the village of Muzhava, based on a call made to his phone number, he was taken out of his house by deception and abducted by law enforcement officers who, with beatings and threats of a weapon, demanded that he revealed the whereabouts of one of the wanted persons, which was unknown to him.

As he noted, before being taken to the police station, he was subjected to psychological pressure, simulated murder, physical abuse, threats to kill, burning his body with a lit cigarette, and more.

He further added that after being transferred to the police station, he was forced to give false testimony against specific individuals in connection with a terrorist act committed in the Tsalenjikha district.

As he noted, in order to create a legal basis for his arrest, he was accused of using narcotics and possessing an automatic firearm, which he confessed to after being physically assaulted and threatened with rape with a baton.

Arkania added that after being transferred to the Tsalenjikha police station, he was again beaten, tortured, and threatened with being burned in a fireplace.

According to him, in 2012, after the change of Government, he was granted the status of a political prisoner and was released from prison on the basis of an amnesty.

During the session, Arkania named the law enforcement officers who participated in his beating, torture, and inhumane treatment.

The Chair of the Commission Thea Tsulukiani underscored that the Commission was created so that the officials of the United National Movement party would never be able to hold high positions, and would no longer be in political positions as well as in the political process.

“Samegrelo has suffered a lot of pain at the hands of Roland Akhalaia, his clan, Kokhta Kodua, the Kardavas and others. By the decision of the Georgian Dream, our commission was created so that these people would never be able to hold high positions, would no longer be in political positions and in the political process. This is exactly the direction in which we should direct the activities of our commission”, Tsulukiani said.