US ambassador “biased” on parliamentary investigative commission on judiciary – Vice parliament speaker

Giorgi Volski, the Vice Speaker in the Georgian parliament, on Thursday accused the US ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan of being “biased” on the creation of the parliamentary commission of inquiry on the domestic judiciary, following his country’s sanctions on three acting and one former judges for “significant corruption”. 

 

The GD MPs have refused twice this week to register for the plenary session to prevent the vote on the creation of the commission that was proposed by the opposition last week. 

 

In her comments on Wednesday the diplomat stressed “protecting” the judges who had been involved in corruption “based on reliable information” did not mean solidarity to professional judges. 

 

“We should consider the statement [by Degnan] as a subjective approach to the issue, since there is no fact and basis for starting an investigation on this topic”, Volski said, and reiterated the US decision on sanctions had come ‘without evidence”. 

 

Degnan, however, said her office had “studied the issue in depth” before sending it to the US Department of State, which announced sanctions on the judges earlier this month.