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Appeal Court Discusses Appeal of Investigative Journalist

June 18, 2008

On June 19 Appeal Court will continue to hear the case of the journalist Nino Zuraishvili. The process started on June 12, when the journalist appealed he verdict of the Borjomi District Court.

Borjomi District Court did not satisfy her suit against the employee of the Khashuri district court who had refused to allow the journalist to study materials related to one criminal case.

“While working on journalistic investigation I had appealed to the Khashuri District Court and requested to be allowed to study the case materials on Teimuraz Edilashvili, the person who was charged with bribery. I also requested the right to make copies of the documents which I considered to be interesting. Besides, I wanted to take some shots for investigation film but the court refused my entire request, on each and every point. This was in spite that I had mentioned my rights as envisaged underthe General Administrative Code. However, in spite of the law, the than court demanded for me to name concrete documents that I wanted to see. I could not do it because I did not know what documents were contained in the case materials. In addition, I had actually wanted to see each and every document, and then to make copies of only some of them,” said Nino Zuriashvili.

The journalist appealed against the refusal at the same court. However, the court avoided the case discussion and it was then sent to Borjomi District Court.

“I lost case in Borjomi Court and they ruled that they could not satisfy my suit. Though the judge added he wondered what the Appeal Court would decide on my case. The process is going on at the Appeal Court for the time-being. Initially, I thought the trial would end soon and I would lose the case…but now I continue to hold onto a little hope as the judge decided to continue the discussion of case. I provided him with new materials; mentioned case law examples from other court proceedings when the finished criminal cases are announced and without personal data,” said Zuriashvili.

The journalist stated that although she was not allowed to study the criminal case, she managed to carry out journalistic investigation and to also make a film.

“I became curious about Tamaz Edilashvili’s case because his charge is a good example how the Internal Ministry creates criminals cases and how officials from the ministry concocts evidence. I tried to expose that the victim was wrongly accused in my investigation, and how he is involved in nine criminal cases. This person admitted that he had taken money from the General Inspection to blame Edilashvili for bribery and to pretend himself as being a victim,” stated Zuriashvili.

The journalist considers that the government is not interested in making the activities of the juridical system transparent.

“Citizens are not provided with the information about the how the juridical system actually operates, as officials do not want to show the real face of the legal system. The Georgian judiciary occupies the ninth place among nine state institutions based on its public reliability. Now the government really wants to hide from the public view what is really going on in law enforcement bodies and the court system. I was involved in this campaign when I was refused access to public information,” said the journalist.

Source: Media.ge  

 

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