Opposition Claims GD Did Not Support ‘Magnitski List’ at PACE Meeting

Georgia’s Parliamentary Minority party European Georgia (EG) claims that the members of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party did not support the so called Magnitski List at the meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

PACE adopted the resolution on the Magnitski List, which includes the Otkhozoria-Tatunashvili List created by Georgia. The resolution calls on European countries to impose sanctions against those countries and people who violate human rights, including in the occupied territories of Georgia.

The EG party member Sergi Kapanadze demanded an explanation from GD as to why they did not support the list. He says the only two lawmakers from Georgia who supported the resolution were members of European Georgia, Davit Bakradze and Giorgi Kandelaki.

At a special press-conference on Wednesday, Kapanadze said that a serious discussion was underway about the Magnitski List within the format of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. He noted that GD members were not even participating in it.

“This is not only about the Otkhozoria-Tatunashvili List; this is a resolution which calls on Russia and other occupant countries to ensure the protection of human rights. Yet the Georgian authorities have not even expressed their position,” the opposition MP claims.

Kapanadze explains that the Otkhozoria-Tatunashvili List was adopted upon the initiative of European Georgia and with resistance from the ruling party, but then Parliament went ahead and adopted a resolution.

“This List was supported not just by PACE but also by the European Parliament, the parliaments of Ireland and Lithuania, and US Congress. As such, serious questions have arisen about GD and the steps taken by them regarding this issue,” he added.

The ruling team rejects the accusations. Tamar Chugoshvili, First Vice-Speaker of Parliament of Georgia, says she supported the resolution on the Magnitski List at the PACE meeting.

She said that when the Otkhozoria-Tatunashvili List was being added to the Magnitski List, it had two co-authors from the opposition and two from the ruling party.

“Three votes were carried out on this resolution, two on changes and one in relation to the resolution itself. I supported all of them but in the last case my name was not seen. Maybe it’s a technical error,” the Vice-Speaker said.

The Otkhozoria-Tatunashvili List contains 33 persons convicted or charged with grave crimes committed against citizens of Georgia in the breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions since the 1990s.

By Thea Morrison

Image: European Georgia member Sergi Kapanadze. Source: 1 TV