Georgi Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi, exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
Tbilisi has not yet received any official documents from Moscow with a request for legal assistance into the investigation of the disorders in the Russian capital. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation considers Georgian MP Givi Targamadze to be one of the suspects in the case, but the Georgian authorities are not going to even consider his extradition.
"We have not received any documents from Russia yet," the spokesperson of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia, Miriam Skhiladze, told Vestnik Kavkaza. She advised to go to her colleague from the Chief Prosecutor's Office, as "the prosecutor's office is in charge of international cooperation in criminal matters." But the head of the press center of the Prosecutor's Office, Khatuna Paichadze, first of all expressed surprise at the fact that the Investigative Committee of Russia advertised a request for legal assistance and reported it through the press. "These issues are dealt with confidentially, and the relationship, as well as possible actions, are governed by the law," Paichadze said. She confirmed that Tbilisi had not received any documents from Moscow. “They can come no sooner than in three weeks, and as for our response, these papers should be studied first, and only then can we comment on them," the employee of the Chief Prosecutor’s Office said.
According to Georgian legislation, the investigator may call the MP for questioning only with the consent of the Georgian parliament. Recently in Georgia there has been a row about the attempt to question a member of parliament from the pro-presidential party United National Movement (UNM), former Deputy Chief Prosecutor David Sakvarelidze, on charges of financial fraud at Tbilisi City Hall. Sakvarelidze refused to appear for questioning and easily flew to Europe.
Members of the inner circle of the Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili made it clear that the Georgian authorities would not do their best inthe " Targamadze case": "He's still a member of parliament. Maybe he will be questioned, but no more than that," said Ivanishvili’s former adviser and scholar, Mamuka Areshidze, who ran for parliament from the "Georgian Dream" coalition. He noticed that in the video there were moments which provoked doubts about the validity of the charges against Targamadze. "The amount which is mentioned there is fantastic. Also, if you look closely, some of the participants in the conversation are clearly aware that the camera is there,” the expert said.
"The main question concerning Targamadze is not where he should be tried but where he can be treated. He's just mentally challenged”, one of the closest associates of Ivanishvili, political scientist George Khukhashvili told Vestnik Kavkaza.
Targamadze himself expressed confidence that the prosecution would not threaten him: "Russia may demand my questioning, but it will be a phantasmagorical version - the authorities in Georgia will not do this. And if this will be so, then we will recall our adolescence and do with these authorities what they deserve."
The pro-presidential party UNM reported that Targamadze’s case will not be discussed. "You never know what they will say in the Russian prosecutor's office. You cannot talk about it seriously," an employee of the Department of Public Relations of the UNM, Keti Mirianashvili, told Vestnik Kavkaza with laughter.
Targamadze’s extradition cannot be discussed, as the Constitution prohibits extradition to foreign countries of not only deputies but ordinary citizens, although some in Tbilisi believe Targamadze’s extradition would be a step towards Russia. "Of course, Moscow would have taken it as a goodwill gesture and a proof of readiness to improve relations with Georgia,” the former rector of the Diplomatic Academy, Joseph Tsintsadze, told VK. “But how will the West assess this? Targamadze, in the end, is not a criminal, he has not killed anyone, and Putin’s regime is not considered to be a model of democracy."
Others point out that the request for legal assistance in the “Bolotnoye case" was made before the meeting in Switzerland between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin and the special representative of the Georgian government Zurab Abashidze. In the course of their conversation they will discuss the possibility of a return of Georgian wine and "Borjomi" to the Russian market. "Not surprisingly, thme requirement of this kind from Moscow has been made on the day when the negotiations have begun in Switzerland; but I very much doubt that Georgia will carry out Targamadze’s extradition, especially given the fact that he is protected by parliamentary immunity," independent political analyst Ramaz Sakvarelidze told Vestnik Kavkaza.
