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  • Mirtskhulava's case goes to court

    The Messenger, Georgia
    Nov. 3, 2004

    Mirtskhulava's case goes to court
    By M. Alkhazashvili

    On November 3, the district court of Krtsanisi-Mtatsminda will begin
    hearing the case of the former Minister of Energy David Mirtskhulava,
    who is accused of overestimating his duties, which seriously damaged
    the country economically, and could face twelve years imprisonment if
    he is found guilty.

    Mirtskhulava is the first high ranking official from the Shevardnadze
    administration whose case has come to court, as all those others who
    have been charged by the General Prosecutor's Office have preferred to
    pay money for their freedom. Mirtskhulava, however, protests his
    innocence, adding that he does not have enough money to buy his way out
    of jail.

    The case revolves around a contract agreed with Armenergo during the
    period when Mirtskhulava was Minister of Energy, which the
    investigation claims is one-sided and artificially increased Georgian
    Railway's debt to Armenergo from USD 4 million to USD 6 million.

    The investigation says that Mirtskhulava agreed to this in return for
    certain benefits - namely, helping mediator company
    Energomanqkorporatsia to embezzle 90 percent of the USD 6 million
    transmitted from Georgian Railway. Georgia still had to pay the debt as
    a result of the one-sided contract Mirtskhulava had signed.

    The newspaper Kviris Palitra reports that the investigation also
    accuses the former minister of taking secret materials relating to
    Georgia-Armenia criminal relationships from the Energy Ministry and
    hiding them in the office of the National Regulation Commission.

    The prosecution has been working on the charges against Mirtskhulava
    for ten days but the court will have to clarify many ambiguous facts as
    well, including who stands behind the disputable crimes committed by
    Mirtskhulava.

    The former minister declares himself to be innocent and says that the
    contract has not damaged the country, but, on the contrary has brought
    the country some USD 500,000, although this is disputed by the
    investigation.

    Mirtskhulava is currently being detained in the Republic Prison
    Hospital. During his imprisonment his health condition has seriously
    deteriorated. His lawyer Eka Beselia say that Mirtskhulava will appeal
    to the European Court for Human Rights in Strasburg if the court finds
    him guilty.
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