A parliamentary commission will be set up to probe into allegations voiced by an investigative report over commercial activities undertaken by Koba Bekauri, a lawmaker from the ruling National Movement party. However, key figures in the ruling party have already backed Bekauri, saying that the investigative film, which is also linked with a journalist’s detention scandal, failed to prove Bekauri’s guilt.
The decision to set up a commission, an action that was also being demanded by opposition parliamentarians, was made at a session of ruling party’s parliamentary faction on September 14. MP Bekauri announced after this session that he will resign from the position of deputy chairman of the National Movement’s faction in order not to trigger speculations about possible pressure he may exert on the parliamentary commission’s investigation.
The case involves the purchasing of 20% of the shares of the Opiza customs terminal by MP Bekauri. The investigative report, which accused Bekauri of being involved in illegal business activities, became the reason behind the detention of co-owner and anchor of the 202 TV station, Shalva Ramishvili. Bekauri claims Ramishvili was extorting a bribe in exchange for the latter pulling the report off the air. But Ramishvili says the MP has been intimidating him for months and fabricated the extortion charge.
The parliamentary commission, wherein the majority of the seats, according to Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze, will be occupied by opposition lawmakers, will have to investigate whether MP Bekauri was directly engaged in the management of the customs terminal Opiza, as well as find out whether it was legal or not for the parliamentarian to take an interest-free loan from a businessmen in order to purchase shares of the terminal.
The 30-minute investigative report was shot by the independent media studio “Reporter” and broadcasted by the 202 TV on September 13. The studio produces journalistic investigations through the financial assistance of “Open Society – Georgia” Foundation (an affiliate of the Soros Foundation network). “Reporter” has a contract with the 202 television station to provide air time for broadcasting stories done by the studio.
The investigative report regarding MP Bekauri, which was titled “the Parliamentarian’s Loan,” was also broadcasted by the Public Television on September 14 in an attempt to reach a broader audience, as the 202 TV broadcasts only in the capital, Tbilisi.
According to this report, MP Koba Bekauri’s assets increased by 294,000 Lari (about USD 163,000) since he became a parliamentarian one year ago. In an interview, which is part of this report, Bekauri admits that he received a USD 150,000 interest-free loan from an Israel-based Georgian businessman, but strongly denies any wrongdoings.
Journalists from “Reporter” interviewed legal experts Ana Dolidze, of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, and Archil Kbilashvili, who claim that by taking this interest-free loan MP Bekauri violated the Law on Conflict of Interests and Corruption in Public Service. According to this law, any asset given to a public official under favorable conditions must be regarded as a gift and public servants have the right to accept gifts within one year only if the gift’s value does not exceed 5 times the minimum cost of living – USD 150,000 is much more this figure. Dolidze and Kbilashvili both claim that any interest-free loan given to a public official should be regarded as a gift.
But MP Levan Bezhashvili, who chairs the Parliamentary Committee for Legal Issues and is a member of the National Movement party, says that the law on conflict of interests does not provide a precise definition on whether or not an interest-free loan is a gift.
“But in a general, I can say that the claims presented by the investigative report, from the legal point of view, are not reasonable… So this report gives no reason to bring charges against Bekauri. But if wrongdoings really took place, they will be discovered by the investigative parliamentary commission,” MP Bezhashvili told Civil Georgia.
Another allegation against MP Bekauri put forward by the investigative report was related to his alleged involvement in the management of the Opiza customs terminal. In footage shot by a hidden camera and which is part of this report, MP Bekauri speaks on the phone with one of the employees of the customs terminal demanding, in an authoritative manner, to be brought some documents regarding the enterprise’s activities. The report’s journalists present this fact as an argument of MP’s alleged participation in the management of the enterprise.
Influential MP from the National Movement party Giga Bokeria said on September 14 that the parliamentary commission will be set up for one reason only: “to find out whether Bekauri was really involved in the management of the enterprise or not.”
“I think that MP Bekauri has himself alleviated doubts [about his alleged participation in the management], but society might still have some doubts and the commission will investigate it,” MP Bokeria said, adding that the issues related with the interest-free loan is clear and needs no investigation at all.
But parliamentarians from the opposition parties say that this scandal, which has largely discredited the ruling party, was enough reason to at least strip Koba Bekauri of his MP credentials.
