Public Defender Nino Lomjaria says she was constantly a 'target' of ruling party in 2021
By Liza Mchedlidze
Monday, October 10, 2022
Public Defender Nino Lomjaria stated during the presentation of the 2021 report to the Parliament that last year the Ombudsman Institute was the target of constant organized and political attacks by the 'Georgian Dream' government.
According to Lomjaria, at the beginning of 2021, a group of prisoners attacked the employees of the Ombudsman's Office on the territory of one of the penitentiary institutions, and according to the video footage, it can be seen that this illegal action was coordinated with the prison administration.
"Last year, the Public Defender was constantly organized, the target of disinformation campaigns, political attacks and threats from the leaders of the ruling party, or their representatives, persons related to them, and the media. Also, like in 2020, at the beginning of 2021, the representatives of the office became the objects of organized verbal attacks and threats in various penitentiaries on the territory of the institution.
We got acquainted with the archived video material on the territory of the penitentiary on one of the days of the attack, which proves that the illegal actions carried out by a small group of prisoners were directly or indirectly organized and coordinated by the prison administration. An investigation is underway in the prosecutor's office in connection with the mentioned case, but so far the guilt of the specific persons involved in the crime has not been identified," said Nino Lomjaria.
The public defender, Nino Lomjaria, in response to the questions of the deputies in the parliament, also explained that the ombudsman filed a lawsuit in the constitutional court not against the Georgian Orthodox Church, but against the Parliament of Georgia, because in the opinion of the ombudsman, this normative act violated the principle of equality of religions protected by the constitution.
According to Nino Lomjaria, the Public Defender filed a lawsuit in the Constitutional Court regarding the law that gives the Orthodox Church the right to annex the forest area surrounding its property. The Public Defender states that the interpretation that the Public Defender is fighting the Orthodox Church is legally incorrect, because the defendant in this case is the Parliament.
Lomjaria also stated that the Public Defender has a unique mandate to submit the case to the Constitutional Court even if the Ombudsman's office considers that this normative act violates human rights, but there is no victim.
