24-11-2018
Statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
- We would like to inform the society on the responding actions taken by the Ministry of Internal Affairs regarding alleged criminal activities during the pre-election period.
- During the recent days, certain media outlets and specific persons disseminate information that the law enforcement agencies do not take sufficient measures to address the criminal activities, which does not reflect the reality.
- Spreading such kind of messages during pre-election period encourages inception of impunity syndrome and boosts violence, while on the elections day, as a result of police intervention, number of physical confrontations were prevented and as of today 21 persons are charged for the criminal offenses related to the violence on the elections.
- Among the accused, there are representatives and supporters both of the opposition parties and the ruling party.
- Hereby, please, be informed that even before the announcement of the elections, the Order of the Minister of the Internal Affairs created mobile police groups that would ensure that elections all over the country is conducted in peaceful and safe environment. As a result of active police work on the election day as well as during the follow-up period multiple violent facts were prevented.
- Furthermore, investigations were immediately launched regarding the information disseminated by media and provided by the observing organizations containing criminal elements. As soon as the evidence was obtained, criminal persecution was initiated. Accordingly, specific persons are charged for the violence that took place in Adigeni, Tianeti, Kutaisi Municipality, Akhalkalaki and Oni.
- Decrease of violence and appropriate reactions of the police are highlighted in the reports of local and international observation missions.
- Additionally, unprecedented number of witnesses (231) were interviewed in past 48 hours regarding the information disseminated this week by the media and non-governmental organization. Interviewees included employees of city hall municipality, directors and teachers of public schools, governesses of kindergartens, members of district election commissions, local population among which were pensioners and socially vulnerable persons. As a result of the interviews, the majority of the facts were not confirmed, including the commitment of crime during putting up Grigol Vashadze’s poster in Ozurgeti. Furthermore, alleged pressure on the employees of kindergartens and schools of Vale and Signagi to vote in favor of the Georgian Dream supported candidate was not confirmed. Confirmed facts will be investigated, while the rest of them are still being examined.
- The Ministry of Internal Affairs is a politically neutral agency, whose main function is to observe public order and to ensure conduction of elections in safe environment. For this purpose, measures prescribed by the law will be applied to any violations of law, irrespective their political nature.
- We actively cooperate with international monitoring missions since the day of announcement of elections and periodically provide them information on the response to criminal facts by the police. We express our readiness to provide the information on conducted activities to any local or international monitoring bodies.
- Hereby, we call upon every person and organization, who has an information on alleged crime, to inform the police immediately thereof, so the law enforcers will be able to check each fact and make due response thereto before the day of elections.
