Director of the Tourist Center Is Blackmailed

Mikheil Tsertsvadze, director of the “Tontio”, Gori regional office of the Youth Tourist Centre, makes statements about the suppression he endures from the representatives of the local government. Tsertsvadze said that lawyer and other officials from the Gori Municipality get in touch with him and demand to leave the building of the Tontio; otherwise they threaten him with detention.(Photo:Mikheil Tsertsvadze)

The point is that in August, last year local authority petitioned to the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Monument Protection and urged to establish huge complex sport school on the base of tourist center “Tontio”. Tamar Edisherashvili, deputy Governor of the Gori District, wrote in the petition that the school would be financed from the local budget.

On November 22, 2006 the Minister of the Culture and Monument Protection passed a decree on establishment the legal entity-sport school # 101 within the Sport Educational Department on the base of “Tontio”.

The abovementioned events happened though the director and employees of “Tontio” did not have any information what was being planned. They learned about liquidation of the “Tontio” on April 17 2007 and appealed to the Court.

Since Giorgi Bebnadze was appointed as a new director for the sport school, the Gori Municipality demanded Mikheil Tsertsvadze to leave the building.

Tsertsvadze said that he does not know the name of the people who threaten him with the prosecutor, because they do not introduce themselves to him while speaking over the phone. Deputy Director of “Tontio” gave the Human Rights Centre the phone numbers he had received calls from. The number belongs to Rezo Gogiashvili, the head of the Legal Department within the Gori Municipality.

Gogiashvili in his conversation with the Human Rights Centre declared that he had called the board of the Tontio to make appointments with them. “The new director cannot enter his quarter, the building must be immediately transferred to the new institution and that’s why I called him,” said Gogiashvili.

The board of the Tontio appealed the decree of the Ministry at the court; however, on April 23 a new director was appointed for Tontio and the institution has also altered its profile.

Director of “Tontio” said that the Gori Municipality board had deceived the Minister. “Nothing except tourism and alpinism can be developed in this building because there are not suitable halls in it. We have only computers, and equipments for tourism and alpinism. It is impossible to develop other kinds of sport on this base. We are gathering children for tourist camps and take them to mountains. It is fact that local authority is interested only in the building. Initially, when we moved into the building, it was ruined and there is a report of acceptance that can prove the fact. Now they want to seize the building we have repaired with our finances. I do not even know where they should take the equipment we have purchased. Why do they need the empty building? We have not received any funds from the budget since 1991 except our salaries; besides that we follow all demands that are envisaged in the resolution and support the development of the tourism and alpinism in the region. If they do not like me, they should appoint the new director who is aware of tourism and alpinism and would not squander our achievements because of his incompetence in the field,” said Tsertsvadze.

Human Rights Center got in touch with Giorgi Bebnadze, but he said that he was very busy and would make comments on the situation when he is free.

Thea Tedliashvili, Gori