President Appoints New Governor of Kvemo Kartli, Sets Priorities for Region

President Mikheil Saakashvili sacked Zurab Mazmishvili, Governor of Kvemo Kartli ? a region which is predominately populated by ethnic Azerbaijani minorities, and replaced him with Zurab Melikishvili, who previously served as the State Minister in charge of regional policy and relations with local government and self-government bodies.

Melikishvili was Governor of Kvemo Kartli region once before ? from December, 2003 to April, 2004.

?Due to numerous violations, smuggling and crimes, I decided to change the local authorities there. So, you should return there and restore order [in Kvemo Kartli],? President Saakashvili said while meeting with Zurab Melikishvili on December 10.

President Saakashvili emphasized the importance of ?fighting contraband? in the Kvemo Kartli region, which borders Azerbaijan. He said that the Georgian and Azerbaijani sides should jointly control the situation on the border.

?We should monitor the situation on the border together with our Azerbaijani neighbors and settle the existing problems jointly,? Saakashvili added.

The Financial Police, together with the Interior Ministry?s special purpose forces, raided the village of Vakhtangisi in the Marneuli district of the Kvemo Kartli region on December 8 and seized a large number of goods from the local villagers, which, according to the authorities, was smuggled from Azerbaijan. The police raid triggered protest by the local Azeri population of the village.

President Saakashvili also said that restoring order in the region means that ?no one should feel discriminated there.?

?Each of the criminal cases should be investigated,? he added.

A group of Azerbaijani non-governmental organizations sent an open letter to President Mikheil Saakashvili this week expressing concern over potential human rights violations against ethnic Azeri ethnic minority groups in Georgia.

The protest letter was triggered by an incident which occurred on December 3, wherein an elderly ethnic Azeri woman was killed and several others injured as a result of clashes between the Azeri villagers and a security guard at a horse farm in the Marneuli district of the Kvemo Kartli region. The clashes were caused by a dispute over land ownership rights.