Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili will on Monday meet the members of the High Council of Justice, an independent body that selects and appoints judges across the country, following the last week’s decision of the United States Department of State to impose visa restrictions on four senior Georgian judges for alleged corruption.
The members of the Council requested the meeting last week, criticizing the US Department of State move along with the government members.
The visa restrictions have been imposed on Mikheil Chinchaladze, Levan Murusidze, Irakli Shengelia and Valerian Tsertsvadze for their alleged “involvement in significant corruption”, and “abusing their positions as court chairmen and members of Georgia’s High Council of Justice, undermining the rule of law and the public’s faith in Georgia’s judicial system”.
Domestic NGOs and former, non-judge members of the council have accused it of making biased decisions, claiming the body is being run by a “clan of judges” with Murusidze, Chinchaladze and several others among them.
