Joint Statement of Non-Governmental Organizations
The undersigned organizations express concern over the inadequate response of the Georgian authorities to Ivane Merabishvili’s allegations made on December 16, 2013.
NGOs have demanded number of times from the authorities to institute a probe into the allegations. Even though the Georgian Legislation explicitly obliges the Prosecutor’s Office and the relevant unit of the Ministry of Corrections to start a full-scale investigation into such facts, no comprehensive investigation has taken place so far. Regrettably, the actions of the authorities have been limited to an internal inquiry only, conducted by the Ministry of Corrections and Legal Assistance of Georgia. The inquiry carried out by the General Inspection of the Ministry of Corrections raised a number of additional questions and once again proved the necessity of conducting a full-scale and timely investigation. The doubts were further reinforced by inconsistent statements of the Minister Sozar Subari on the different terms of keeping recordings of the surveillance cameras installed in Merabishvili’s cell. We once again urge the relevant authorities to launch an investigation with observance of legislative requirements with a view to ensure thorough examination of Merabishvili’s allegations as well as to respond to number of legitimate questions of the society on this matter.
International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED)
Georgian Young Lawyers` Association (GYLA),
Georgian Democracy Initiative (GDI),
Transparency International Georgia (TI- Georgia)
Media Development Foundation (MDF)