Justice halls to be built in Tskaltubo, Samtredia and Khashuri

By Natalia Kochiashvili

Friday, October 18

Thea Tsulukiani: 'When I was going to the exam, I always thought I would get a good mark, and I did. I am the same about the elections. I think that we will present ourselves with dignity'.

Justice Minister: “With this money, we will be able to announce tenders for the construction of community centers in Dedoplistskaro, Vani, Aspindza, Chokhatauri, Baghdati and Ninotsminda, which we could not do until now because we had used all the funds for construction and capital expenditures.”

Five million 300 thousand GEL will be allocated from the Regional Fund of the Ministry of Justice, part of which will be spent on construction of three Justice Houses. The relevant decision was made by the Government of Georgia yesterday.

According to the Minister of Justice, Thea Tsulukiani, Justice Houses will be built in Tskaltubo, Samtredia and Khashuri.

“All 3 large municipal centers, where the Ministry of Justice has been providing services for many years, are not in favorable conditions, and I am pleased that we are laying the ground for creating comfortable conditions for our citizens as in other major cities,” noted Tsulukiani.

At the same time, according to the minister, now that they have money, tenders will be announced for the construction of public centers in Dedosflistskaro, Vani, Aspindza, Chokhatauri, Baghdati and Ninotsminda.

“The additional funds will allow us to outsource these tenders, we will have the opportunity to start construction this year. My goal is to have a legacy at the Ministry of Justice, which is having justice halls and community centers in all municipal centers of Georgia, except for Mtskheta because of UNESCO requirements/ Practically speaking, we said goodbye to Soviet infrastructure,” said Tsulukiani.

The Justice Minister also touched upon the moratorium on the pardoning of prisoners after the government session, saying it should be completed on time.

As the Minister noted, she hopes that the Parliament will staff the relevant working group soon.

Tsulukiani also expressed hope to be able to present the position of penitentiary and Ministry of Justice in the process of working on new norms and once again stressed out her readiness to get involved in the working group.

Minister said she couldn’t make predictions regarding the ending time of this process, but expressed her desire for it to finish soon in order for inmates to have hope that their case will be completed on time: “Instead of having the sense of uncertainty, they will know the precise criteria – when and how their pardon might take place.”

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has announced a moratorium on pardoning convicts last month. President has pardoned three people convicted of murder - the murderers of Tarash Mukbanian, David Fourmezuri and Soso Koiava.

On September 20, the General Prosecutor's Office of Georgia launched an investigation into the possible abuse of power in the process of pardoning convicts Ramaz Devadze, Aslan Bezhanidze, Zurab Nadiradze and others, according to Article 332, Part I of the Criminal Code.

As part of the investigation into the pardon case, Dimitri Gabunia, Parliamentary Secretary to the President, the staff of the President's Administration, and Deputy Chief of Administration, Angi Khutsishvili, were questioned at the General Prosecutor's Office.

Asked whether the president should also appear in the prosecutor's office, Thea Tsulukiani replied:

“I am not the president. If I were, I would visit the Prosecutor's Office.”

Tsulukiani says it is everyone's responsibility to answer the investigation's questions.

“Everyone should understand - the minister, the ordinary citizen, the MP - everyone who is appointed or elected to the office - answering a question at the prosecutor's office does not mean committing a crime. When the investigating prosecutor has questions, we have to legislate to answer these questions, but this is only my position as the Minister of Justice and I hope that many citizens share this position,” said Tsulukiani.