Press Digest 15.10.2014

Why has a Georgian delegation visited the USA?

An attempt to trigger religious conflict in Georgia

I have always been critical of the Government – Kakhi Kakhishvili

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Why has a Georgian delegation visited the USA?

"A delegation from Georgia, involving 5 deputies, has recently visited the USA. As one of the members of the delegation, Omar Nishnianidze, noted, the U.S. congressmen’s reasoning is not half as “dark” as the Nationals pain it,” reports the Alia gazette.

“Frankly speaking, the U.S. congressmen do not really think much regarding our internal affairs and do not throw light on this subject in their personal speeches. I am fully liable for my words as per which the Nationals “tales” have absolutely nothing to do with the truth. We all know that every single day they claim that the former high officials are being persecuted in Georgia; however, the American congressmen think that this process is absolutely normal. While talking with them I focused on this issue several times and each time, they told me that it’s our business and it’s up to us to punish an offender. The band of Nationals even alleges that the reports regarding the Georgian Government’s intention to throw Saakasshvili in jail triggered uproar in the U.S. This is a travesty though,” asserts Mr. Nishnianidze.

“Thus, our delegation has paid a visit to the USA, where we have entered several states and clearly saw that agriculture there is at an extremely high level of development. As for us, our land has been either sold or devastated; our authorities have even stooped to grabbing our land to build their luxurious cottages. 900 hectares of land of The Maryland University, for instance, is at the disposal of students who work there along with the scientists… We plan to submit a report on this issue to the parliament in the immediate future,” claims Omar Nishnianidze.

“I will not really find it surprising if some ministers are replaced here. Some of them have really failed to properly accomplish their entrusted duties. Even Irakli Gharibahsvili has made it clear that some reshufflings are expected to take place in the government. And in the present state of play, when the band of Nationals has quadrupled their efforts to achieve their objectives, these changes are really a must,” contends the respondent.

“If our law enforcers do a good job and bring really strong evidence against the former criminal authorities to the table, we will have nothing to fear. I, for instance, will never believe that Mr. Saakashvili is as innocent as a lamb. They will not find it difficult to collect more evidence than necessary to throw this man in jail. And I am sure that we will see him behind bars soon,” states Mr. Nishnianidze.

An attempt to trigger religious conflict in Georgia

"Well-organized actions to provoke a religious conflict in the country, this is an evaluation from some representatives of our public of the recently occurred incident at St. Barbare’s Cathedral that has recently been vandalized. As they claim, this incident is connected to an incident that has recently taken place in Kobuleti, where outside the Muslims’ mosk they killed a pig and nailed its head to the door of the Chapel. The Government has pledged that it will look into the case and will severely punish the offenders. St. Barbare’s Church that is located in the vicinity of the 31st factory was broken into yesterday. Reportedly, one of the walls of the church was ruined, all holiness of the church broken and devastated,” reports the Rezonansi gazette.

“The Head of the church defined the incident as defamation of the church and announced that the cathedral has been subjected to a barbarous raid. “This is not a mere break in, this is an unspeakable offence. All icons are devastated; everything is in mess here. We can say that they have spat at our church,” stated Father Iase.

“In Father Iase’s words, if the Georgians were vigilant and stood together, this terrible incident would not have taken place. “First of all, the Georgian people must be solicitous to their churches and holy treasure. The entire parliament and all members of our Government must voice concern over the recently occurred horrible incident and must find the devil that has committed this unspeakable crime,” declared the Head of the Church.

“By noon, the experts and detectives had wrapped up the inspection of the Church; they have refused to issue any kind of a comment regarding the issue though. “We don’t worry regarding a material loss. Simply by doing this, the offenders have washed their hands of the nation’s dignity and pride, and precisely this is horrible,” announced Head of Georgia’s Church, Father Iase.

“Before the investigation is seen through, Levan Berdzenishvili finds it difficult to release any kind of comment regarding the recently occurred incident. According to Mr. Berdzenishvili, if by perpetrating this terrible crime, the offenders really aimed at sparking a religious conflict, they will be severely punished according to the legislation of Georgia. “No detailed information has been passed onto me regarding this issue thus far, and, hence, regarding the incident I don’t know any more than you. However, we must keep our composer and remain tolerant. As you know, according to the legislation of Georgia, anyone -- Christian, non-Christian, atheist or Satanist -- is severely punished if they try to trigger a religious conflict in the public. Thus, the case must be looked into; the perpetrators of this unspeakable offence must be found and severely punished. The Georgian authorities will never let any one provoke a religious conflict in the country and pit our people against each other,” maintains Mr. Berdzenishvili.

I have always been critical of the Government – Kakhi Kakhishvili

"All my life I have been critical of the Government and I am not going to drop this practice in the future too. However, I will not direct a diatribe against the acting authorities with journalists or live on the air. If I have some personal opinions regarding this or that issue, I will discuss them within the team rather than publicly. My team will either take my remarks into account or dismiss them. If they give me the cold shoulder, I will simply step down. This is not so difficult, is it?! However, while I am a member of this team, I will never pass harsh criticism on my comrade-in-arms publicly,” announces a recently appointed head of the Ministry of Corrections, Kakhi Kakhishvili.

“They have given me a vote of confidence and have also bound me with a great responsibility. All my life, I’ve tried to maintain the trust which my people have placed in me. Before I took this step and occupied the post of Head of the Ministry of Corrections, I though very much,” maintains Mr. Kkahishvili.

“When you intend to serve in a Ministry, you must know the plans of its leader. Otherwise, your ideas and opinions may prove to be poles apart with those of the leader. I have never thought about working in a team where members did not all share the same interests. When they offered me this post, I pinned down the Minister regarding his plans. I got interested in how he planned to develop the Ministry. I also posed them questions regarding the reform they planned to pass. Only after this I accepted this position,” states Kakhi Kakhishvili.

“I have to serve as a parliamentary secretary, I have to work on innovative plans with the legal department and I have to present the legislative body with the reform. Actually, I have come here to pass this reform which will aim to reinforce the personnel and management system… Generally, this system is extremely complex. Despite the fact that the system has been controlled by MIA, some undercurrents can still be detected. In 2008, when the Prosecutor’s Office merged with the Ministry of Justice, a conflict of interests occurred between the officials. In the wake of this, the Department of Probation and Correction has seceded from this system and a new Ministry has been created. However, the legislation has no been refined. Hence, a new Ministry with its own budget has emerged; however, this body has never been apt to make independent decisions,” asserts Mr. Kakhishvili.

“The legislation will be discussed at the parliament’s session in the nearest future; the amendments will also be proposed to it and after this, the document will be filed at the parliament. I think that all these procedures will be seen through on the eve of the New Year,” says the respondent.