Press Digest 25.12.2014

Nothing will improve if criminal high officials do not face justice, former Head of Georgia’s Chamber of Control

Clashes erupt in Kazreti between locals and journalists

“As former Head of Georgia’s Chamber of Control, Sulkhan Molashvili states in his interview with the Akhali Taoba publication, by urging the Georgian authorities to look into his case, the European Court has made the right decision. “However, no one knows, whether they will manage to follow through with my case since the former officials that labeled me a mafioso preside over the body,” says Mr. Molashvili.

To a journalist’s question asking: “why they tortured him in prison,” the respondent answers:

"Mr. Bokeria and Adeishvili were there too. I saw them with my own eyes while these people tortured me. They did this for one sole purpose – they just wanted me to write one single sentence: “under Sulkhan Molashvili, Georgia’s Chamber of Control followed Shevardnadze’s instructions and worked against Saakashvili, who was in the opposition then. By doing this, they just wanted to help our ex-president overcome his greatest weakness that is his inferiority complex. This man has always suffered from this terrible affliction – he cannot stand a rival, a really dignified opponent frightens him immensely. We can label this wretched man as a filthy rat who deluded his own people by making them think that he was their savior having freed them from a profligate ex-government’s clutches.”

“I have repeatedly visited the Prosecutor’s Office; however, no one has ever told me that an investigation into my case has been launched. I don’t even want to expand on this issue. I just want our people to know that a butcher with his blood-smeared hands cannot preside over the Prosecutor’s Office. Likewise, a criminal cannot serve as a judge. I just want them to solve high-profile cases and give everyone their due. Under different circumstances, their job will remain undone and justice will be in the same crippled condition in the country forever,” concludes Sulkhan Molashvili.

Clashes erupt in Kazreti between locals and journalists

"The locals as well as RMG Gold officials have reportedly clashed with journalists who entered the region of Kazreti. The locals say that the conflict surrounding the Kazreti mining company will leave them unemployed,”- reports the Rezonansi newspaper.

“Caucasus Environmental NGO Network “Seni” sent journalists to Kazreti in order to expose how the river Kazretula and the area around it have been contaminated after RMJ Gold began its project nearby. However, as the locals claim, the mining company has not created any ecological problems and if it is actually shut down, 300 people will be left without jobs.”

"As a journalist for the Rezonansi newspaper says, RMJ employees blocked them from reporting on the situation, as did the locals. As residents of Kazreti claim, they have been on a hunger strike for 3 days; however, no one has paid any attention to them at all. As one of the residents of Kazreti states, if RMJ Gold drops its project and the company closes its doors, many people will needlessly suffer.”

"The company’s employees have denied us access to Kazreti. All roads to the region have been blocked. The locals have taken a very negative stance; they were against us from the very beginning. They did not even let us see the area where the processed waste is systematically being dumped. The locals have resorted to physically assaulting us and also threatened to strip us of our cameras,”- writes the author.