Ex-PM Gakharia: gov’t sends ‘alarming message’ as it closes State Inspector’s Service

Former PM under the Georgian Dream government Giorgi Gakharia says that the government is sending “an alarming message to independent public officials, leaving citizens unprotected from state violence,’ as it has plans to close the State Inspector’s Service. 

 

“There is no way GD gets away with this!,” Gakharia tweeted, who resigned and left the ruling party this year due to controversies with the party leadership. 

 

The ruling GD party MPs initiated a bill on December 25 based on which the State Inspector’s Service would be replaced by two new agencies – the Special Investigation Service and the Personal Data Protection Service, which will investigate alleged offenses committed by the authorities and to monitor personal data processing, respectively. 

 

The State Inspector’s Service was created back in 2018 to investigate alleged offenses committed by law enforcement agencies and officers. 

 

It has recently fined the country’s Justice Ministry and the Special Penitentiary Service of Georgia for the release of videos of ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili ‘which included personal data.’ 

 

The head of the agency Londa Toloraia says that she was ‘absolutely unaware’ of the move and learned about the plans to close the agency while on maternity leave. 

 

She believes that the office ‘is being punished by the government for being unbiased.’ 

 

The international community and MEPs have condemned the forthcoming closure of the ‘independent service.’