Georgia Files Lawsuit against Russia in European Court

Georgian government is working on the Archil Tatunashvili case to address Strasbourg Court.

According to State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality Ketevan Tsikhelashvili, the severity of the occupied territories was most tragically revealed in the case of Archil Tatunashvili and showed that the situation is not static but creates everyday challenges for people.

"We are investigating Tatunashvilis case today. The suit will soon be made. We have already made a statement that the Georgian government will use all the peaceful tools at hand - diplomatic, legal, political, etc. This preparation was going on earlier and of course the Georgian government is working on the case, "said Ketevan Tsikhelashvili.

Georgian political establishment supports the government’s initiative. However, MPs from the opposition parties think that launching a case is not enough, but Georgian Government should use all tools to make Russia take all responsibilities.

“Russia should be responsible for violation of Archil Tutunashvili's right to life. The Strasbourg Human Rights Court is an opportunity that Georgian government should use, and it is good that the NGO sector is active in this direction, the main purpose of this suit is to underscore Russia's responsibility for vandalism. I mean that Russia is responsible for Archil Tutunashvil’s death. It will be good the Ministry of Justice will be active,although we remember cases,even Russia-Georgia assemblies, when the Ministry of Justice was not putting enough effort to make Russia pay compensation to Georgia,” said Giorgi Tugushi from European Georgia.

Eka Beselia, the Chairman of the Committee on Legal Issues in Parliament, thinks that the case will be so important that it can go out of Georgia’s legal and political possibilities. She thinks that using European Court of Justice is an important tool and the suit that Georgian Government wants to bring will have not only legal, but also important political importance.

Member of the National Movement party Salome Samadashvili has more skeptical position than members of the ruling team.

"Unfortunately, we are still facing a trend that the current leadership is not using efficiently international pressure, including international courts. The Government was not using international courts to put the pressure on Russia to take responsibility for its various crimes against the Georgian citizens. Accordingly, it will be important to bring a suit but it’s even more important how Georgia will defend its interests in court. We see that government in fact formally suits Russia in various instances, but it does not actually have any results. If this case is an exception, we will just welcome it,” said Samadashvili.