Gharibashvili answers minority
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Tuesday, March 19
Minister of Interior Affairs, Irakli Gharibashvili, met with minority representatives on March 18. Various issues related with the ministry were discussed during the meeting. The minister and minority members also accused one another in wrongdoings.
Minority MP Gia Baramidze stated that the new administration is mainly engaged with political statements and not real actions for ensuring security in the county. Baramidze claimed that the criminal situation is getting worse in Georgia and for the first time in 9 years Georgians have the feeling of danger when they come out in the street.
“Up until the elections, United National Movement had managed to ensure a stable criminal situation inside the country,” Baramidze said, adding that one of the main reasons of “poor criminal situation” might be hiring less qualified staff in the ministry.
Gharibashvili called Baramidze’s statements abstract and baseless. The minister underscored that fear in the people concerning the criminal situation might be caused by the large-scale amnesty, the president’s pardon and those negative statements that were being made by the minority.
“However, the criminal situation has not gotten worse and we absolutely control the situation. In reality, nothing special is ongoing in the country. I appeal to all not to make unproved statements and not threaten people through useless statements,” Gharibashvili stated, adding that the ministry hires its staff through competition and intends to encourage good students to work in the ministry.
The minority asked the minister to display the statistics on crimes. Gharibashvil responded that starting at the end of the month statistical information will be regularly presented to the public.
The minority was also interested in the issues of political prisoners– especially those who are from those Georgian regions settled by ethnic minorities. The minority stated that individuals from the Samtskhe-Javakheti region released through amnesty are a threat to state security.
Gharibashvili stressed that the law on amnesty was discussed in a hastened way and the ministry had special remarks towards some individuals. However, the parliament did not take several recommendations into consideration.
“However, we control the situation. No one creates a threat for Georgian security,” Gharibashvili said.
The minority asked the minister to address amnesty issues more and check out whether certain members of the amnesty commission had been really engaged with protectionism during studying the cases of political prisoners or not.
“I mean Nana Kakabadze, first of all” MP Davit Sakvarelidze said. Gharibashvili stated that he will be interested in the issue.
Gharibashvili was asked concerning the murder of 10 month-old Barbare Rapaliantsi during the election period. The former Kakheti governor whose name was related with the murder asked what was ongoing concerning the issue.
“The Georgian Dream’s candidate in Gurjaani, Manana Berikashvili, accused me in murder without any evidence…” Ghviniashvili said.
Gharibashvili stated that the investigation regarding the issue is still ongoing. However, the fact that the investigation was not launched on time makes the process complicated.
