Former Head of Pardon Commission presents evidence - his phone - to investigation

By Tea Mariamidze

Wednesday, December 16

Parliament Chair Davit Usupashvili calls upon everybody to refrain from early assessments about the Pardon Case.

Elene Tevdoradze, who was head of the Pardon Commission for eighteen years, says that she received many calls from different people, including members of Parliament, but she ignored them all.

Ex-Chair of the State Pardon Commission and an independent member of Tbilisi City Council, Aleko Elisashvili, has presented his phone to investigation personnel after being summoned to the Prosecutor’s Office once again.

According to Elisashvili, he showed the investigators text messages, in which certain high-ranking officials from the ruling Georgian Dream coalition exert pressure on him and lobby for the granting of pardons to certain prisoners.

“My phone was kept by the investigation as evidence; I trust investigator Giorgi Mudjiri and he knows all the details. Now I have no doubts about the honesty of the investigation and today we discussed everything in detail,” said Elisashvili after the questioning.

He also stated that he refused the offer of the President and the Prosecution to provide him with protection measures.

“I rejected the offer of the Prosecutor’s Office to provide me with protection because I am not afraid; the people who are guilty should be scared, not me. The President has also suggested special measures of protection, but I refused,” claimed Elisashvili.

He also noted that the comment of majority member Gia Volski, who said that everyone should be questioned - even Vice Speaker Manana Kobakhidze - was the first positive sign from the government.

It should be noted that two days ago, the Kviris Palitra newspaper wrote that Elisashvili’s allegations are connected to the so-called Cocaine Case, and the politicians who pressured him are Vice Speaker Manana Kobakhidze and MP Eka Beselia, who is the Chair of Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee of Parliament.

The Chair of Parliament, Davit Usupashvili, also commented on the issue. He called upon everybody to remain calm and refrain from making any assessments and let the Prosecutor’s Office find out the truth.

It became known that the Prosecutor’s Office has questioned Deputy Prosecutor Giorgi Gogadze. According to Elisashvili, he had provided Gogadze and the former Prosecutor Giorgi Badashvili with information that certain politicians were putting pressure on him.

Gogadze rejects Elisashvili’s allegations, saying that they really had a conversation, but about different issues.