Georgia Accepts to Receive Convicts Prosecuted by ECHR
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Monday, January 28
Georgia has signed a deal and accepted to receive the convicts prosecuted by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) if there is such need.
However, the country maintains the right to decide which convict to receive after an individual discussion of his/her case.
ICC, which is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands prosecutes individuals, not states, for international crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The Georgian Justice Ministry stated last week that an agreement was signed with the court regarding the enforcement of justice.
The agreement refers to Georgia’s involvement in the ICC justice enforcement system and the consent by the Georgian government to receive certain individuals convicted by the international court in its prisons, the ministry says.
Based on the agreement Georgia has a right to discuss individual cases and only after decide to receive or not certain people convicted by ICC.
ICC says that for now there is no need of using Georgian prisons for its convicts as their number is not high.
“If there is a need our penitentiary system will be able to support the ICC,” the Justice Ministry says.
The ministry reports that by signing of the agreement the ICC says the Georgian penitentiary system is in line with international standards.
ICC earlier signed such an agreement with the countries like Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Serbia, Sweden, Slovenia and Great Britain.
The court prosecutor is now investigating the Russia-Georgia war.
