GOG PROPERTY GRANT TO JUDGES' ASSOCIATION RAISES

C O N F I D E N T I A L TBILISI 002131 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/CARC, EUR/RPM AND DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/24/2017 TAGS: PGOV ECON GG SUBJECT: GOG PROPERTY GRANT TO JUDGES' ASSOCIATION RAISES EYEBROWS Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Mark X. Perry, reason 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (U) On June 5, in accord with Georgia's effort to fight corruption among judges, President Saakashvili issued a decree directing the Ministry of Economic Development to sell a building and adjoining property in the Tbilisi suburb of Saburtalo to a "community-based organization," Temida. The decree further stated that the members of Temida, who are current judges of the Georgian Supreme Court, the Tbilisi Court of Appeal and the Tbilisi City Court, should be granted apartments in the building. The sales price of the property was USD 200,000, or USD 17.50 per square meter. The Ministry completed the transfer of the building to Temida on June 25. ¶2. (U) The opposition Republican Party, in particular, objected strongly to the sale. They contend that buildings and land in the same area are being sold for USD 1690 per square meter, although we are unable to confirm this is the going price in the area of the building. According to real estate experts, finished apartments can sell for from USD 350-1500 per square meter in Tbilisi, depending on location. We have no information about the condition of the building or whether it is intended to be demolished or renovated by the new owners. ¶3. (C) On August 20, Charge met with Zurab Adeishvili, General Prosecutor of Georgia. Charge suggested to Adeishvili that selling property at a discount price to the judges' organization, for the use of judges while they are in office, may be justifiable. However, granting property to judges in their individual capacities and their heirs could reasonably call into question the independence of the judges from government influence. Such an impression defeats government efforts to improve the reputation of the judiciary for fairness. Adeishvili said that he had personally opposed the grant of property to the judges, but had lost the argument within the government. He said the government has a statutory obligation to provide housing benefits for sitting judges, and this was the manner in which the government decided to fulfill it. He would have preferred to see a cash grant to the judges to meet their housing needs. He suggested that it would be better for the Embassy to raise the issue with the Chairman of the Supreme Court, Kote Kublashvili, because, according to Adeishvili, it was the judge's organization that had made the decision to transfer the property to individual judges after taking title to it. We intend to raise the issue with Kublashvili at the next opportunity. PERRY