The editor-in-chief of the ‘Chronica +’ newspaper thinks that the arrest of her son based on her journalistic activity

პოლიტიკა - 12:23, 18 Mar, 2017

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Appeal of From: The ‘Chronica +’ newspaper:

"On the 13th of March of 2017, in Tbilisi, Georgia the arrest of Davit Kharshiladze took place. He is the son of the editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper ‘Chronica +’ Eliso Kiladze, and he also serves as the administrative officer of the same newspaper.

‘Chronica +’ – an independent media edition, founded in 2013 – has up until now exposed, on systematic basis, the high-ranking officials of Georgia’s government.

Eliso Kiladze, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper has undertaken numerous investigations on corruptive deals of the former Georgian prime-minister Irakli Garibashvili and his close relatives, which had resulted in certain replacements within the government. That is exactly when direct threats had taken place against the editor-in-chief, and several attempts were made to arrest her son.

Currently, ‘Chronica +’ is involved in the much talked about journalistic investigation, exposing the high-ranking law enforcement officials in nepotism, corruption, illegal drug policy, and connections with the Russian secret police. More specifically, in the last 12-month period of time, ‘Chronica +’ has been running the articles about Ioseb Gogashvili, the deputy chief of Security Service of the country. Revealed were his corruptive schemes, illegal income and the facts of exceeding authority on his part.

In the duration of this period of time, Eliso Kiladze made frequent public statements, social networks included, about the threats of arresting his son, illegal eavesdropping and secret watching. His transportation routes were controlled on permanent basis to identify the persons, who furnished the information accordingly, and other materials about law enforcement officials.

In 2017, the arrest of the ‘Chronica +’ administrative officer, who is the son of the newspaper’s editor-in- chief, took place absolutely illegally. He received inhuman treatment on part of the arresting policemen. He was beaten up and the police officers forcefully placed in his pocket a big amount of narcotics. He was not Mirandized, was not allowed to make a telephone call and to contact the lawyer.

In the Tbilisi police department headquarters, Davit Kharshiladze was again treated inhumanly, even in presence of the public ombudsman’s representative. Humiliation, beating and swearing took place too. The public ombudsman has already made a statement about this. Consequently, the General Inspection Office of the Ministry of Interior of Georgia was compelled to start investigation against the violent policemen.

The defense lawyer of Davit Kharshiladze has already made an appropriate appeal to the main prosecutor's office about his release from illegal custody, but we have not received the answer to that lawful request of ours so far.

The independent newspaper 'Chronica + ' is now under an unprecedented duress on part of the authorities. To execute pressure on the editor-in-chief, they put extraordinarily big amount of narcotics in Davit’s pocket, called Subutex which in Europe is not even considered a narcotic. By the Georgian law, the substance called Buprenorphine, contained in Subutex is on the list of narcotics, which directly contradicts the United Nations convention.

It is worth noting that the Georgian authorities have long been refusing to recognize the mentioned discrepancy. It now becomes known that the Georgian parliament is considering the bill, according to which Buprenorphine is put not on the list of narcotics but on the list of psychotropic substances. In European countries, it is openly sold to public in drug stores, and is used for treatment of epilepsy.

The editor-in-chief of the newspaper thinks that based on her journalistic activity, the threat to her son’s life is not excluded.

May we now apply to you with a request to investigate into the facts of violation of the rights of Davit Kharshiladze at the time of his arrest, expressed in placing narcotics in his pocket, the usage of incommensurable physical force, beating and inhuman treatment? We are also asking you to monitor the criminal law case of Davit Kharshiladze during the investigative period because there is a high chance of hampering the work of the lawyers, defending the indicted, by law enforcement powers, Ministry of Interior and security offices by executing pressure on them, thus not letting the lawyers to effect defense and prove the innocence of their client."

Hopefully and sincerely,

Eliso Kiladze
Editor-in-Chief, the ‘Chronica +’ newspaper