New Commission to Support Repressed Lawyers

The Georgian Bar Association has announced the creation of a rehabilitation commission in the hopes of supporting the process of lawyers across the country in dealing with the repressions that occurred between 2005-2012.

During the government of Mikheil Saakashvili, it is estimated that hundreds of prisoners were incarcerated for political reasons. After the removal of Saakashvili from office, Parliament introduced legislation to work on various schemes to rehabilitate the legal proceedings from between 2005-2012. 

The statement published by the Georgian Bar Association reads, “The Commission is an effective mechanism to assist the lawyers repressed in 2005- 2012, and the persons recognized as political prisoners by Parliament, to prove their innocence and to give proper moral, legal and valuable assessment to the injustice committed against them. The Administration of the President of Georgia has announced financial support for the temporary commission. A relevant memorandum was signed today.”

The Association remarked that the mistakes made during those years damaged the reputation of the profession by unjustifiably repressing in lawyers for their work. The Commission not only aims at reworking the legal proceedings but restoring the dignity and high reputation of the lawyers "falsely accused of wrongdoings."

The goal of the Association is to bring all parties and institutions together to support the process, emphasizing the impartiality of the Commission’s work. "No matter the political affiliation, the importance is unite for a better understanding of the events, which happened during Saakashvili’s government,' they said.

By Benjamin Music

Photo: humanrights.ge