Georgia’s Public Defender Appoints New Deputies

The Public Defender of Georgia, Levan Ioseliani, today announced the appointment of new Deputy Ombudsmen to his team. Elene Ghudushauri and Natia Julakidze will be taking over the roles previously held by Giorgi Burjanadze and Ekaterine Skhiladze.

Ioseliani presented Ghudushauri as a legal professional with a master’s degree in law. Julakidze holds a master’s degree in state management and public administration. Both appointees thanked Ioseliani for the confidence placed in them and expressed their readiness to assume their new roles, especially in light of the increased political attention attributed to the Public Defender’s Office as one of the 12 priority areas for EU candidate status.

Elene Ghudushauri will coordinate and supervise the activities of the Criminal Justice Department, the National Preventive Mechanism, the Strategic Law Enforcement Administration, the Analytical Department, and the Human Rights Education Department.

Natia Julakidze will be responsible for coordinating and supervising the Department of Children’s Rights, Rights of the Disabled, the Department of Gender, the Department of Equality, and the Eastern and Western Georgia divisions.

Later today, reports emerged that Natia Julakidze is the niece of Aleko Elisashvili, a party colleague of Levan Ioseliani of the Citizens Party. Asked to comment on this, Julakidze said that she was an ordinary member of the Citizens Party, had worked with him for years, and had also been a member of the party’s political council. She stressed that she would “certainly criticize her uncle if he made a discriminatory statement”.

Both Burjanadze and Skhiladze had previously announced their resignations, with their last day being March 31. In his statement, Burjanadze said that he had informed Ioseliani of his decision immediately after the latter’s election. He and Skhiladze had decided to stay on until the end of March to complete their final report.

More to follow..

Also Read:

• 07/03/2023 –  Georgia Parliament Appoints Levan Ioseliani as Public Defender
• 22/12/2022 – Parliament Fails to Elect Public Defender
• 20/12/2022 – Georgian Dream, Opposition, Fail to Agree on Joint Candidate for Public Defender

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