Prosecutor’s Office Probes into Alleged Pressure on Constitutional Court

Prosecutor’s Office said on July 26 that it opened investigation into allegations voiced by Chairman of the Constitutional Court last week that some of the judges of the 9-member Court were “pressured” and “blackmailed” to either rule in favor of the authorities or drag out verdicts in several high-profile cases. 

On July 21 Chairman of the Constitutional Court, Giorgi Papuashvili, also claimed that some judges were targets of surveillance and were threatened with making public information related to their private lives.

Prosecutor’s Office said that the investigation was opened under the clauses of the criminal code dealing with meddling in the judiciary and breach of privacy.

“Shortly after publicly voicing allegations, Mr Papuashvili was notified to appear at the prosecutor’s office to clarify details of the matter. Although initially he agreed, he then changed his position and refused to cooperate,” Prosecutor’s Office said on July 26. “All the necessary investigative measures will be carried out as part of the investigation to verify information over alleged crimes committed against members of the Constitutional Court.”

Papuashvili, whose ten-year term in the Constitutional Court expires in September and who met President Giorgi Margvelashvili on July 25, said that his previous allegations and concerns over pressure were left unaddressed by the law enforcement agencies and now he deems it necessary to raise the issue directly with political leadership, including with the PM, and only after that he will provide detailed information to the chief prosecutor.

Prosecutor’s Office also said on July 26 that it also opened investigation into allegation voiced by President Giorgi Margvelashvili that pressure was exerted by the law enforcement agencies on one of his family members.

After meeting Papuashvili on July 25, the President said that he was not surprised by Constitutional Court Chairman’s allegations about pressure being exerted on the Court as his family member also became a target of this “dangerous trend”. The President said that last month his family member, whom he did not specify, was stopped by the police in a street and then his home was searched “without any court warrant”. “Everything was of course clean and there was no wrongdoing [on the part of his family member], but there were some hints that it was done in an attempt to exert pressure on this person,” the President said.

The Interior Ministry said on July 25 that in late June, the police searched three men as part of ongoing investigation into alleged illegal possession of firearms – the measure, the interior ministry said, was deemed lawful by the court. One of the men was President’s son-in-law, Mindia Gogochuri, whose car and house were also searched. According to the Interior Ministry, one of the men was carrying a “cold weapon”, but nothing illegal was found in respect of President’s son-in-law and the third man as a result no criminal investigation was launched against him.

Prosecutor’s Office said that it opened investigation under the clause of criminal code dealing with alleged cases of exceeding official powers by law enforcement officers.

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