High Council of Justice Holds Session Following the Sanctions on Georgian Judges
On April 6, the High Council of Justice held a session to discuss the sanctions against Georgian judges, by the Secretary of the U.S. State Department.
At the beginning of the session Nino Kadagidze, the Chairman of the High Council of Justice, called for a calm and appropriate response to the allegations made against her colleagues by the US State Department’s Secretary. She expressed hope that the department would present relevant evidence or reconsider the matter, and urged the public to refrain from making premature conclusions until more information is available.
Levan Murusidze claimed at the session that the allegations of corruption made against him were “just a cover, a proven method to achieve a certain goal”. According to Murusidze, that goal was the US Embassy’s desire “to control the judicial system”, which he claimed “they have been attempting to do for years through various means”, including through NGOs, opposition parties, and international organizations. He cited the case of Lasha Chkhikvadze as an example of attempts to gain influence over the Georgian judicial system, in which judges who supported Chkhikvadze were “bullied” by US Embassy staff.
Murusidze claimed that representatives of the US Embassy had been approaching him personally for years, conveying specific wishes, such as the appointment of certain judges to the High Council of Justice. “I have proof of this,” he said, adding that he would make it public if necessary. He stressed that the sanctions were a tool of “moral terror” against his family and that the Georgian staff at the embassy, headed by Chkheidze, had been using said tool for years, using the $25 million budget to create “an unhealthy situation” and “confrontation in the court system.” However, Murusidze noted that although NGOs and the US believe that these sanctions will achieve their goal and “there will be chaos and the court system will be subordinated to the US Embassy,” this won’t actually happen because “many of the judges on the High Council have shown their support for him”.
Finally, during the session he emphasized: “The important thing is not whether the US or the European Union will impose sanctions on Levan Murusidze, this is my personal problem. What is important is that Georgia does not lose its sovereignty and that the US embassy does not take over the judicial system, which, by the way, is happening not only in our country, but in other countries as well.”
After the session, Murusidze told journalists that one of the necessary conditions Georgia’s independence is an independent judiciary, “which should not be under the influence of others”. He then addressed the US Embassy, telling them that he would remain calm about the situation and denied that the court was under the influence of the ruling political forces, stating: “The court made decisions that the judge thought were right and legal.”
Levan Murusidze was supported by another member of the High Council of Justice, Judge Dimitri Gvritishvili, who stated: “What has this man done that is different from what I have done, what Badri is doing? No one can say why he deserves it. Why am I not sanctioned or why is Mikheil Chinchaladze sanctioned?” He formally requested a meeting “as soon as possible” with the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, to whom he and Murusidze would present the evidence of the Embassy staff’s contact with them.
Gvritishvili also shared the view that the US is trying to gain control of the judiciary, agreeing with Murusidze that Georgia is not alone and that Ukraine and Albania are “specific links in the chain.” As an example, he cited the Ukrainian government’s surrender of Ukrainian sovereignty in the judiciary after it gave the power to appoint judges to “an obscure commission of international experts.”
Nikoloz Marsagishvili, the Secretary of the High Council of Justice, has joined his colleagues in opposing the sanctions imposed against the judges. According to Marsagishvili, allegations of corruption require concrete evidence to back them up. He expressed hope that evidence would be presented publicly to justify the decision made by the US Secretary of State. Marsagishvili also agreed with Dimitri Gvritishvili’s suggestion that the members of the High Council of Justice should meet with relevant government representatives if a meeting of the entire judiciary is not possible.
During the session, Temur Gogokhia, a member of the High Council of Justice, also spoke out against the US sanctions against Georgian judges, saying that “this does not meet not only American standards, but any standards.” Gogokhia criticized the “unfair” accusations, which were “made without any concrete evidence”.
