On January 9, Executive Secretary of Georgian Dream Party (GD) and GD Parliamentary Majority Leader Mamuka Mdinaradze announced that the GD is planning to establish a temporary investigative commission in the first week of the spring session to probe into alleged crimes committed by the United National Movement (UNM) government in 2003-2012, Report informs via Civil Georgia.
Speaking at a briefing Mdinaradze repeated a detailed GD narrative about the “bloody nine years” of the United National Movement rule, adding that the commission will investigate “systemic crimes” including “torture of prisoners,” “killing of individuals, violence, and invasion of privacy,” “corruption and pressure on businesses,” “appropriation of media outlets from legal owners,” and “the [alleged] acknowledgment [by UNM] of the start of the 2008 war.”
He added that “to avoid speculation, we emphasize that military commanders and soldiers will not be the addressees of the investigation regarding the 2008 war.”
Mdinaradze particularly underlined that the young generation due to their young age does not remember the alleged crimes by the previous authorities and the others have forgotten them.
Drawing parallels with post-WWII Germany, Mdinaradze stated that “the public must constantly remember the crimes committed by the authoritarian regime to prevent their repetition in the future.” He further noted that this approach of “constantly reminding society of the crimes of the regime”, referring to the Nuremberg trials, was how Germany “defeated Nazism in the public consciousness”.
As Mdinaradze said, the commission will work for six months, summoning and questioning former regime officials and others who may have information about the alleged crimes. Its findings will be submitted to parliament for approval in September, after which they will be passed on to prosecutors for “further action and to ensure the punishment of the criminals”.
Mdinaradze also repeated the claim that Georgia’s “radical opposition” is “controlled by the deep state”, adding that “Georgia also needs to be freed from the radical opposition, just as the United States needs to be freed from the deep state”.
He said: “There is a radical opposition in Georgia that committed many crimes against the Georgian state and people when it was in power in 2003-12. Since 2012, this political force has acted as a deterrent in Georgian politics, openly opposing Georgia’s national interests and creating a decisive obstacle to the establishment of a healthy political system in Georgia.” Mdinaradze also pointed out added: ” Moreover, given the nature of this political force, it is clear that in the theoretical event of its return to power, it will inevitably commit the same crimes with renewed vigor and energy, given the green light by the same forces that referred to the authoritarian, bloody regime of 2003-12 as a beacon of democracy.”
“In conclusion, we reiterate that the evaluation of the 2003-12 regime is of crucial importance for the prevention of threats to the country and the establishment of a healthy political system in Georgia. Therefore, the work of the temporary investigative commission is of the utmost importance for ensuring the uninterrupted development of our country”, he concluded.