“Police never put drugs in someone’s pocket”

Georgia’s Interior Minister, Giorgi Mgebrishvili, has responded to several accusations aimed at law enforcement officers and stressed that the 'current police' never deliberately put drugs in anyone's pocket with the purpose of detaining them.

“We never act unlawfully against someone, everything is based on real facts. Everyone is equal before the law,” Mgebrishvili said.

On March 15, Tbilisi City Court sent journalist Eliso Kiladze’s son to pre-trial detention for the possession of drugs.

The detained David Kharshiladze and Kiladze herself stress that the arrest was because of Kiladze’s criticism of the current state authorities.

Meanwhile, President Giorgi Margvelashvili’s daughter Ana Margvelashvili released a video, wherein she says her friend Mikheil Tatarishvili was also detained for keeping drugs.

She claimed that this arrest was an act against President Margvelashvili and was an alleged result of the President’s critical attitude towards the government.

She stressed that another friend was also at risk of being detained.

For many years, the civil sector has demanded changes to the country’s drug policy.

However, no changes have been carried as of yet.

It has also been a topic of discussion that crimes committed by law enforcers haven’t been addressed appropriately.

If everyone is equal before the law, for committing a crime the law enforcers must be held accountable as any other citizens of Georgia and question marks mustn’t exist in this regard.

Meanwhile, those who accuse the police of acting illegally must also reveal their evidence, as many of those who really commit crimes always claim they were innocent and others’ deliberately acted against them.

The overall practice of law enforcement bodies, especially during the governance of the UNM (United National Movement) unfortunately was often based on putting narcotics, arms, or any other illegal objects in the pockets, cars or residential places of the persons whom the police officers or high officials wanted to get rid off or detain. So the current government has to prove to the society that it is not repeating the ill tradition of the previous standards. All the cases should be dealt objectively, transparently so there should be no suspicion that law enforcers are committing something illegal.