The Messenger, Georgia
March 17 2005
Mirtskhulava trial enters deliberations
Former minister, facing a possible twelve-year sentence, says
presiding judge is neither objective nor independent
By Mary Makharashvili
One-time Minister of Fuel and
Energy Davit Mirtskhulava listens
to his lawyer’s closing arguments
on Tuesday
Former Minister of Fuel and Energy Davit Mirtskhulava opened his
defense speech at Mtatsminda-Krtsanisi Regional Court on Tuesday by
saying he was the victim of “revenge justice.”
“This is revenge justice. I should directly say that today the
quality of your [the judge’s] independence is equal to nil. You will
not be independent while making a decision and no one can ask you to
be a hero,” the defendant said in an hour-long speech which brought
the trial to an end.
He is accused of abuse of power and defrauding the state of USD 6.7
million, and if found guilty could receive a prison sentence of up to
twelve years. The judge is expected to announce his decision on March
30.
Mirstkhulava believes, however, that the judge’s decision will be
neither objective nor impartial. “I was asked whether I was hopeful
that the court’s decision would be objective. I answered that I have
no hope and illusion of this,” he said.
“The process cannot be called a court process and there cannot be any
talk of justice. The only description for the process is revenge
justice,” he said, adding that he did not intend this as an insult to
the judge.
In conclusion, the former minister stated that he used to live much
better than anyone in the current General Prosecutor’s Office can
ever imagine.
Mirtskhulava was the first former high ranking official detained by
the General Prosecutor’s office following the Rose Revolution. After
a seven month investigation, the General Prosecutor’s Office charged
him with abuse of power, which carries a 3-8 year prison term,
participation in a scheme to defraud the state, which carries a 5-10
year sentence, and misappropriation of state documents, which carries
up to one year.
The General Prosecutor’s Office presented an eighty-page summary of
its arguments and evidence in its closing comments, and demanded that
Mirtskhulava be sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment.
The prosecution said that Mirtskhulava was responsible for overseeing
the repayment of a USD 6.7 million state debt to the Armenian energy
company Armenergo. Instead, the state charges, he transferred the
funds to an intermediary company leaving Georgia still owing the
money to Armenia.
Mirtskhulava’s defense states, however, that the document authorizing
this payment was not signed by the minister, but stamped “Agreed with
the minister” in his absence: he was not in Georgia at the time, the
defense states.
Furthermore, Mirtskhulava’s lawyer Eka Beselia told journalists on
Tuesday that Mirtskhulava was ordered to approve the repayment
scheme, which was set up by other agencies, by a presidential decree.
She also stated that Armenia first filed a case against the Georgian
state regarding the debt in 1999, when Mirtskhulava was not a
minister but that “Armenia lost the case both in Tbilisi District
Court and then in the Supreme Court of Georgia.”
The state claimed in that case that the seal of a Georgian minister
did not mean that the state should pay this debt, as it was an
agreement between legal entities, she said, adding that in bringing
the current charges against Mirtskhulava, the prosecution was
admitting that the state was in fact responsible for the debt.
Moreover, on Tuesday Eka Beselia stated in her closing statements to
the court that Armenia has not requested the sum which was paid to an
intermediary but not transferred to Armenia.
She also wanted to know, “if this is a crime, where are the five
people who signed this agreement with Armenergo, including the former
head of the Railway Department Akaki Chkhaidze, the head of the
Georgian Whole Sale Electricity Market, the director of state owned
Sakenergo and the Marsh Corporation, which served as the
intermediary.”
“If signing this agreement was a crime and grounds to jail a person
and demand a 12 year imprisonment, then why hasn’t the responsibility
of the others been raised?” the defense lawyer asked.
Speaking with the media, the prosecutor did not respond to the
remarks made in the defense’s three-hour address, saying only “the
defense is doing what it should do in such cases.”
Ombudsman attends trial
The final stage of the trial was attended by the Public Defender of
Georgia Sozar Subari, who explained in an interview with The
Messenger that after the allegations of a lack of court independence
and objectivity, he wanted to witness the trial “with my own eyes.”
“I have been watching the court process for a long time and was well
aware of the case,” he stated. “But now I decided to attend it myself
as it has reached the final stage – just to hear myself what are the
arguments of the defense,” Subari.
The public defender admitted that there had been violations in the
early stage of the trial, when the defendant was seriously ill.
Asked if he believes the decision of the court will be objective, he
replied, “I do not want to put pressure on the court authority by my
statements. I just hope that the decision will be objective,”
He added, however, that no-one can be considered guilty before the
court has made a decision, and criticized those who had already
proclaimed his guilt. “Neither the president of Georgia nor other
persons are behaving properly when they make premature statements,”
he stated.
Mirtskhulava’s defense lawyer, meanwhile, says that she is not under
the illusion that the judge will make an objective decision.
“Taking into consideration the conditions and circumstances in which
the judge presiding over Mirtskhulava’s trial is considering the
case, he cannot manage to make an impartial decision,” she said in an
interview after the case closed with The Messenger.
“When the judge is considering the case while the deputy general
prosecutor is holding an emergency press briefing and that president
is making such statements, I do not think that Judge Kharebava is
such a hero not to take into consideration all of this,” she said.
“Anyway, it does not matter what decision is made by the court. We
will fight on until we achieve the desired outcome. Mirtskhulava is
absolutely innocent,” she added.