GD-Affiliated Officials Allegedly Confiscate IDs of Opposition-Minded Civil Servants
According to recent reports, Georgian Dream officials are allegedly confiscating ID cards from opposition-supporting civil servants in the regions of Georgia. The issue was first raised by members of the opposition coalition Unity – National Movement, Ana Tsitlidze and Tamar Kordzaia, who cited some cases in their separate briefings. Their allegations were followed by a journalistic investigation by Mtavari TV, which also found evidence of the practice.
On October 15, Ana Tsitlidze claimed that in Senaki and Zugdidi (western Georgia) a group of law enforcement officials, city hall employees and representatives of government institutions are operating the scheme. She claimed that in Senaki the group is controlled by Giga Zesashvili, the head of the Samegrelo regional police, and in Zugdidi by Dato Shengelia, the former commander of the so-called “Forest Brothers” (a guerrilla group consisting mainly of ethnic Georgians who remained in the occupied republic of Abkhazia after the defeat of the Georgian regular army in the Abkhazian war).
Tsitlidze described the scheme as an “intimidation campaign” and called on the Interior Ministry to investigate the case, and the involvement of the people she named as allegedly involved in the practice. The MIA hasn’t opened an investigation.
Following Tsitlidze’s allegations, Tamar Kordzaia also held a press conference on October 17, reporting that GD supporters allegedly took the passports and IDs of 31 people – 22 beneficiaries and 9 employees of the Tsnori Retirement Home – and brought them to the GD office in an attempt to “intimidate or bribe” Georgian citizens. Kordzaia claimed that she knew the names of the people involved in this case, but deliberately chose not to name them. She called on the Personal Data Protection Service to immediately open an investigation into the matter.
After reports of these cases, journalists from Mtavari TV decided to the allegations. Pretending to be representatives of the GD headquarters, they asked the workers of the Rustavi Cleaning Service whether they had already handed over their documents to the representatives of the company’s management, to which the workers replied that they had, or that they had been warned to do so in the coming days before the elections. The journalists also called Ketevan Chikviladze, one of the heads of the company, again saying that they were GD representatives and asking her to confirm that she had taken the documents of her workers, she confirmed the case and even named the people from whom she had taken the documents.
Following reports of these cases, journalists from Mtavari TV decided to investigate the allegations. Pretending to be representatives of the GD headquarters, they asked the workers of the Rustavi cleaning service whether they had already handed over their documents to the representatives of the company’s management, to which the workers replied that they had, or that they had been warned to do so in the coming days before the elections. The journalists also called Ketevan Chikviladze, one of the directors of the company, and introduced themselves as representatives of the GD and asked her to confirm that she had taken the workers’ documents; she confirmed that she had done so and even named the people from whom she had taken the documents.
The Mayor of Rustavi, Nino Latsabidze, held a briefing on Mtavari TV‘s investigation and denied all allegations, saying that the reason why the company management needed the documents of these people was to renew the labor contracts with them, saying that this happens every year and has nothing to do with the elections.
On October 18, the Georgian Public Defender addressed the allegations, stressing that “obstructing the implementation of the will in the elections, including by deception, violence or use of official position, is a criminal offense”. The Ombudsman called on the law enforcement authorities to launch an investigation in accordance with the information made public and expressed his willingness to assist, within the limits of his powers, any person whose documents had been confiscated.
It is not clear what purpose, if any, these documents will serve in the alleged attempts to rig the elections. The most obvious reason given by opposition members and analysts is an attempt to intimidate opposition-minded citizens ahead of the elections.
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