Ruling party head: US Ambassador was not clear over alleged pressuring a judge

I had expected that the US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan would have made a clear denial  that no pressure was exercised over judge Lasha Chkhikvadze by the Embassy for his verdict. However, we have heard no clear dismissal of the allegations, which is thought- provoking, the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party head Irakli Kobakhidze said on Wednesday.

 

The judge said last week that he was removed from the US Embassy-funded programme and his US trip was canceled following his verdict in the case of the head of the opposition-minded Mtavari channel Nika Gvaramia in May.

 

Kobakhidze suggested that it was a “common phenomenon” that the judiciary “protected itself from any interference.”

 

“I was waiting for a clear explanation and a denial that no such interference took place. We have said many times in the past that no one from the American Embassy was up to it. We expected such an answer from the US ambassador, that she was sure that no one in the American Embassy would do that. Therefore, we thought that she would deny the accusations that were voiced by judge Chkhikvadze. However, we did not hear that, which is very thought-provoking and very disturbing,” Kobakhidze stated.

 

Degnan has dismissed allegations several times and stated that the Embassy expressed its concerns openly over sentencing Gvaramia to three years and six months in prison for abuse of power while chairing Rustavi 2 TV channel.

 

The opposition said that the GD authorities were engaged in the “anti-Western campaign” and the allegations over pressuring a judge was the part of the “anti-Western propaganda.”