Supreme Court Ruling on Chechens Puts Government under Crossfire
The Georgian government takes crossfire because of possible extradition of detained Chechens charged by the Russian authorities for participation in terrorist activities.
On the wake of the Georgian Supreme Court’s decision, which delayed extradition of Chechens, Russian officials have restarted their pressure on Tbilisi, claiming that Georgian authorities assist the terrorists. On the other hand, local and international human rights organizations say the extradition would endanger the lives of the Chechens and pressure the Georgian government to deny the extradition.
In November the Georgian General Prosecutor’s Office has decided to hand over three Chechens to Russia, but their lawyers appealed the Mtatsminda-Krtsanisi district court of Tbilisi, which ruled against their appeal.
The lawyers of apprehended Chechens claim that the extradition cannot take place, as their identities were not yet officially established. They have also claimed that Mtatsminda-Krtsanisi court has violated the rights of defense during the review of the appeal. On December 5 the defense defense lawyers have walked out of the courtroom protesting the procedural decisions of the judge.
The Supreme Court of Georgia supported an appeal of the lawyers and ruled to return the case for reconsideration by another jury of the Mtatsminda-Krtsanisi court, quoting the violation of the rights of defense. Russia’s response on the decision has been sharp.
“It is obvious and clear issue that the Chechen terrorists are subject to extradition. They [Chechens] “sink” in endless legal and judicial pettifogging. All this again shows, that official Tbilisi anyhow indulges and in essence supports the terrorists,” the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yakovenko has declared on December 26.
Russian authorities also accuse Georgia of violation of the Chisineau agreement between Shevardnadze and Putin. At the CIS summit in Moldova on October 6 President Shevardnadze promised his Russian counterpart to extradite all the alleged Chechen militants detained in Georgia. President Eduard Shevardnadze himself has several times assured his Russian counterparts in willingness to extradite the Chechens, despite the fact that the final ruling on the issue belongs to the courts.
Decision of the Supreme Court has been regarded as a major success of the human rights advocacy organizations, which were actively supported by the public defender of Georgia.
On December 24 these organizations and several members of the Parliament of Georgia have signed a message to the Georgian authorities and the Chairman of the Supreme Court, calling for suspension of extradition of the three Chechens of Russia. The human rights activists claim that there are no guarantees for security of these Chechens if they are extradited to Russia.
Along with Georgian human right organizations, international organizations are also very concerned with the Chechens’ case. On December 23, the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights issued a press release, in which it has expressed its grave concern with violation of the rights of the Chechens in Georgia “by the justification of these violations as being necessary for anti-terrorist operations.”
The IHF urged the Georgian authorities to refrain from the extradition of Chechens to Russia, “as there is no guarantee that their rights will be protected there, and as they are at serious risk of being tortured or ill-treated and sentenced to long-term imprisonment following an unfair trial”.
This statement of the International Helsinki Federation has sounded in connection with extradition of five detained Chechens by the Georgian authorities to Russia in October and anti-criminal actions in Tbilisi, carried out in the beginning of December, when Georgian law enforcers have detained and taken fingerprints of the dozens of the ethnic Chechens living in capital of Georgia.
Georgian authorities face a tough test of assuring the international opinion and the Russian authorities in a supreme right of the Georgian courts to decide on the matter. Excessive political weight that is placed on the issue, however, makes it extremely difficult to balance the international human rights commitments with participation in anti-terrorism campaign.
As a result, the Georgian government risks to either become an easy target of the harsh criticism both from the human rights organizations or to prepare for the new wave of Russian pressure, which culminated in September 2002 in an open threat of military aggression.
By Giorgi Sepashvili, Civil Georgia
