Head of State Inspector’s Service welcomes ‘loud’ statement of US embassy on the agency

Head of Georgia’s State Inspector’s Service Londa Toloraia has stated that the US embassy has made a ‘very loud and clear statement,’ on the decision of the ruling Georgian Dream party ‘to abolish the agency’ and replace it with other agencies. 

Toloraia says that a chance still remains for the State Inspector’s Service if the president vetoes the bill initiated and then approved by the ruling party. 

“The US said very clearly that we help you to build democratic institutions and not to destroy them,” Toloraia stated. The US Embassy says that the Georgian Dream ruling party ‘undermined’ government accountability last week by abolishing the State Inspector Service, which is mandated to investigate police abuse and protect data privacy. 

The embassy said that the party also undermined the independence of individual judges by amending the Law on Common Courts, and undermined faith in the judiciary by appointing yet another Supreme Court judge ‘using a flawed selection process.’ 

“ No credible reasons were provided to the public for why these actions needed to be rushed through without appropriate consultations,” said the embassy. 

Toloraia and the opposition believe that the agency, which was created back in 2018, ‘was punished’ for being unbiased.