Speaker: Georgia will not surrender independence – Herczynski must understand this once and for all

“Brussels is demanding that foreign nationals have the decisive say in the appointment of judges in Georgia,” the Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said.

According to Papuashvili, such a demand contradicts the Georgian Constitution and the very idea of the country’s independence.

“We did not fight for independence, nor did we leave the Soviet Union through bloodshed and struggle, unlike other republics, only to have some bureaucrat in Brussels restrict our independence. I want to state this once again, emphatically. I have said this repeatedly to [EU Ambassador] Pawel Herczynski and many others in Brussels. If they have not understood it in English, perhaps they will understand it in Georgian, which they are gradually learning: as long as I remain a member of parliament and Speaker of Parliament, we will not allow Georgia’s Constitution to be violated or a foreigner to appoint judges in this country.

If they do not like this, it is clear that they do not. They want to gain control over the judiciary; they want to appoint the judges themselves. We know their preferences. Just look at the so-called reports and findings produced by their funded NGOs on various cases, and you will understand what their preferences are. Herczynski’s alter ego is Eka Gigauri, head of Transparency International Georgia, who describes the October 4 storming of the Presidential Palace as the ‘fence case.’

We will not surrender our independence. I want Mr. Herczynski to understand this once and for all. We understand that he does not like it, but it is unclear why he is making such a fuss about it. It is clear that they want to appoint our judges, restrict our independence and sovereignty, and interfere in our justice system. We are telling them that we will not allow this. We understand that they do not like it, but they should calm down and leave us in peace,” Papuashvili said.

The European Commission’s report, which is due to be published today, states that “Georgia needs to initiate a broader reform of the judiciary, in particular to reform the HCJ in line with Venice Commission recommendations, addressing restrictions on the reappointment of its members, notably by fixed non-renewable terms. Moreover, establish a system of extraordinary integrity checks, with the involvement of international experts with a decisive role in the process, for candidates and for people currently appointed to all leading positions in the judiciary, in particular the HCJ, the Supreme Court and Common Court presidents.”