Legislation to become stricter in fight against Criminal World
Legislation to become stricter in fight against Criminal World

The legislation in fight against Criminal World will become stricter in Georgia. The payroll of activities, for which the so-called “thieves in law” are due to be held criminally responsible, will become wider. The persons, who will apply to criminal authorities for protection, will be also punished by law.

The main argument for change of the law adopted in 2006 is the latest frequent cases when those detained on charge of being “thieves-in-law” are acquitted.

Punishment for being a “thief-in-law” and for membership of “underworld” will become stricter. Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili talked about the package of legislative amendments prepared by Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) during the governmental sitting. “I want to assure the population that criminal mentality will never be triumphant in the country,” PM stated.

Giorgi Gakharia, Minister of Internal Affairs said that criminal mentality and organized crime pose big risks to the population and hamper development of the country in different directions. Minister said that propagation of healthy lifestyle among the youngsters served as one of the prevention means for resolution of the problem.

Gakharia clarified that new terminology would emerge in the draft-bill. He also said that if a member of the criminal world cooperated with the investigation in solving of a minor category crime, the person would not be held responsible under Criminal Code.

The draft-project will be initiated in the Georgian parliament in spring. One part of human rights defender already has remarks over the document.