“Democracy Index - Georgia” calls on Parliament to study the issuance of “Narushilovkas”
“Democracy Index – Georgia” responds to the news report broadcast on “Mtavari Arkhi “on 23 January, and:
Urges the Parliament to study the legal nature and issuance rules of the so-called “Narushilovka” (a written permit for breaking the law for operative purposes) and bring it in line with the principle of equality before the law;
Calls on the Prosecutor's Office to thoroughly and comprehensively investigate allegations made in the above news report of power abuse by certain senior officials and any other alleged offences;
The video footage released by the TV Company "Mtavari Arkhi” shows a police officer arresting the brother of Intelligence Chief Levan Izoria for petty hooliganism in 2014. At that time, Levan Izoria was the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs. The video further informs TV viewers how things progressed after the arrest. Specifically, the detainee refers in the dialogue with the police officer to having kinship with Levan Izoria and threatens him with retaliation. At the end of the TV story, the journalist mentions that the Ministry of Internal Affairs, instead of responding to the violation, prepared the so-called "Narushilovka" for Levan Izoria’s brother, thus granting him even more privileges. It has been reported that the Prosecutor's Office is investigating the above incident of power abuse in relation to the head of the Tbilisi Patrol Police.
It is noteworthy that the aforementioned "Narushilovka", a permit exempting a person from any liability for traffic violations, has become the focus of public attention at different times. In particular, several years ago media reported that Natia Mezvrishvili, the head of the current government administration and the then prosecutor, had the so-called "Narushilvka,” which was later publicly denied by the Chief Prosecutor's Office. As for the "Narushilovka" granted to Levan Izoria's brother, the information thereof has been circulating since 2015.
The NGO “Democracy Index - Georgia” considers the facts disclosed in the TV report alarming, on the one hand, due to the disregard for the rule of law and the principle of equality, and on the other hand, for concealing serious crimes relating to power abuse.
Consequently, “Democracy Index - Georgia” urges relevant committees of the Parliament of Georgia (Defence and Security/Legal Issues Committees) to:
- Invite the Minister of Internal Affairs to Parliament and ask him questions regarding the legal and practical aspects of the "Narushilovkas," namely:
- A legal act that governs the issuance of the "Narushilvka," i.e. "a permit allowing for the exemption from the prohibitions and restrictions envisaged by the traffic rules”;
- If the issuance of the above is regulated by a decree of the Minister of Internal Affairs and it is not public, to ask the Minister to provide the legal grounds for such secrecy;
- The law that the Minister of Internal Affairs referred to when issuing the decree;
- Request the Minister to elaborate on who and which officials the mentioned "Narushilovkas" are issued to and in what circumstances;
- Ask the Minister to provide information on the number of "Narushilvkas" issued in 2019;
- If the answers to the paragraphs 4 and 5 reveal that the number of the issued "Narushilovkas" exceeds the number of persons in the country today who can legally have such document, report to the Prosecutor's Office an alleged power abuse, since the permit might have been issued to unauthorized persons in violation of the law;
- Disclose the inquiry results with the personal data protection in mind;
- Produce a report after hearing, analyzing and verifying the obtained information and assess the shortcomings relating to the legal and practical grounds of the Narushilovka and the ways to address them, including, where appropriate, legislative initiatives and recommendations for relevant authorities.
Calls on the Prosecutor's Office to:
- Ensure a prompt, unbiased and thorough investigation to identify all perpetrators, including current senior officials who might be involved in official power abuse;
- Given the high public interest in the case, report to the public about the investigative activities conducted so far.