PM: Fight Against Criminal Mentality to Become More Effective
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze has pledged that the fight against criminal mentality will become more effective. He was speaking at a press conference on February 13.
“We continue to combat criminal mentality, one of the most serious manifestations of which is street fights. Their frequency, and in most cases, their dire consequences, require a stricter policy. Accordingly, today we are considering a new legislative package through which street fighting will be punishable by criminal law,” he said.
He added that the law will be particularly tough on those who try to involve minors in such criminal acts.
In mid-April 2018, the Parliament of Georgia adopted proposed amendments by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) on tightening the punishment for criminal organized group membership.
According to the changes, any person who appears to be a member of a criminal group or a "thief-in-law", for the purpose of settling any dispute or making any decisions, or supports the criminal world, will be punished according to criminal law.
Also, any person who organizes a meeting of criminals or so-called “thieves-in-laws”, or takes part in such meetings, will be punished.
Furthermore, if under the current criminal code, being a “thief-in-law” punishment was increased from 7-10 years imprisonment to 10-15 years.
For membership of an organized criminal group, the punishment is a term of seven to ten years instead of the previous 5-8 years.
On February 11, the MIA detained five people on charges of being a member of a criminal group, supporting or participating in a criminal group's gathering.
The crimes committed by them envisage imprisonment from 6 to 10 years.
The investigation revealed that on January 27, a gathering of criminals was held in a residential apartment in Tbilisi to solve a disagreement between one of the arrested criminals and one businessman. The four others detained also participated in the dispute.
The MIA says a Georgian so-called thief-in-law, wanted by Interpol, Sulkhan Jafaridze (formerly Sulkhan Tvalchrelidze), also participated in the dispute via electronic communication and settled the conflict according to "criminal rules".
On the basis of a judge's decision, the police detained five persons in Tbilisi on February 11, 2019, while Sulkhan Japaridze, the "thief-in-law" will be charged in absentia.
By Thea Morrison
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Parliament Adopts Amendments on Stricter Punishment for Criminal Group Membership
Georgia Tightens Punishment for Criminal Group Membership