Vice Speaker: I am going to sue Elisashvili for slander
By Tea Mariamidze
Tuesday, December 29
Vice-speaker Manana Kobakhidze says she is going to sue the former head of the State Pardon Commission, Aleksandre Elisashvili, for slander.
Kobakhidze claims that Elisashvili’s statement - that she put pressure on him asking to release certain convicts - is a lie.
“I plan to sue Elisashvili in court and we are going to use every legal way to respond to slanderers properly. My lawyers are already working on this case,” Kobakhidze stated.
It should be noted that along with Kobakhidze, Elisashvili points to another Georgian Dream member, Eka Beselia, saying they had received 200 000 USD in advance in order to release the ‘Cocaine Case’ convicts and they were promised a further be 1.5 million USD to be handed over later.
He said that the two MPs were persistently asking him for the preterm release of the convicts of the Cocaine Case, who were accused of trafficking cocaine from Latin America to Turkey through Georgia in 2010.
Elisashvili has also demanded the suspension of MP Manana Kobakhidze from her post of Vice Speaker and MP Eka Beselia from her membership in the Prosecutorial Council. He also demanded the suspension of Deputy Chief Prosecutor Giorgi Gogadze pending investigation.
In response to Kobakhidze’s statement that she is going to sue Elisashvili, he says that he is ready to appear in Court and prove his truth.
“I will speak to Kobakhidze and her friend [Beselia] in court with pleasure; they were going to get rich at the expense of the prisoners and only now remember their dignity and reputation; if I will not be able to prove the truth of my claims during the tenure of this government, I will do so after the government changes,” stated Elisashvili.
Aleko Elisashvili, chaired the Presidential Pardon Commission from November 2013 till mid-2014 before being elected as an independent member of the Tbilisi City Council (Sakrebulo).
