Firstly, we would like to comment on the Prime Minister’s statement regarding the case of imprisoned officials of the Ministry of Agriculture.
The Prime Minister reported that he wishes not only Kirvalidze’s acquittal but of other detained individuals as well. “However, I doubt that it will be so. I pay attention to the process and have some questions. I would be glad if Kirvalidze is acquitted, yet the issue should be decided by an investigation” – the Prime Minister noted.
Furthermore, the Prime Minister announced that he is not interfering in investigation, which is a positive fact. However, we consider that Prime Minister’s statement, that he also has some questions regarding the case and doubts about acquittal of the detainees, contains a risk of making some directions to investigation. We do not confirm that the Prime Minister wants to influence investigation. Simply, law enforcement representatives who listen to such statements from high officials can be influenced automatically.
Moreover, as far as we know, no investigation was launched against Kirvalidze yet, therefore statements about his acquittal are unintelligible.
As for Prime Minister’s statement on GYLA exceeding the authority, we agree that operation of any entity, including NGO, should be within the scope of the law. Authority is exceeded when an organization breaks this scope, which was a serious accusation from the Prime Minister’s side. In view of this, GYLA would appreciate more specific statement, namely where, when and by which conduct GYLA has exceeded its authority. We fail to remember such fact.
At the same time, the Prime Minister declares that the civil society should be active, even exceed its authority. If active conduct of NGOs and exceeding of authority is a positive act, then it should not be mentioned in a negative context. (“Let’s refrain from making much emphasis, as though GYLA said and the state should turnover.”)
Protection of human rights and promotion of accountable, effective governance are main directions of GYLA’s activities since its foundation (1994) and public should judge the success and appropriateness of the organization’s work. According to its mandate, purpose and mission GYLA shall make legal assessment about gaps in this field, if any, submit relevant information to public and call on the government for appropriate conduct. We wish that ordinary conduct of the NGO was not treated as the fact of exceeding an authority and that any state official made key emphasis on the problems that need to be settled by them according to obligations envisaged by law.
