In parliament, National Forces Union representatives reminded the government that the “dismantling” of Eduard Shevardnadze’s regime commenced in Tsalenjikha [a district in the western Georgian region of Samegrelo] and with the active participation of “Zviadists” [supporters of the first president of Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, ousted as a result of a coup d’etat in 1992]. In “compensation” for this, MPs Zviad Dzidziguri and Kakha Kukava are now seeking the political and juridical rehabilitation of Gamsakhurdia’s supporters.

Yesterday, the Parliamentary Committee for Legal Affairs supported putting forth the decree on Political and Juridical Evaluation of the December-January Events of 1991-1992, and the insertion of amendments and addendums in the law on the Repressed.

If the plenary session of parliament also confirms the committee’s decision then Gamsakhurdia’s adherents will become acknowledged victims of political repression, their status would be equal to those subject to the repressions of the Communist age, and they will enjoy the appropriate social privileges.

Initiators of the legislative amendment think it irrational that those fighting for Gamsakhurdia’s then-legitimate government remain considered traitors, criminals, bandits, terrorists, etc. – according to court rulings still remaining in force. Even stranger is the fact that individuals falling under this category, namely Zviad Dzidziguri, Guram Absandze, Petre Gelbakhiani, and others, are members of the incumbent government.

As the court rulings are enforced, reversals can take place only on the basis of newly discovered conditions. In Dzidziguri’s opinion, parliament’s decision on considering Gamsakhurdia’s government legitimate will be deemed such a decision, which will serve as a basis for revising criminal cases instigated against the supporters of Gamsakhurdia’s government via the court.

But if events develop in this direction, a new problem will certainly come about – a legal gap will emerge in the legacy of the government.

Zviad Dzidziguri views the solution of the issue as being akin to a Baltic State: the former Supreme Council will convene and acknowledge the legitimacy of the present government.

Even though the Legal Affairs Committee supported Dzidziguri’s legislative initiative yesterday, it is unlikely that same will happen at the plenary session: one could ascribe yesterday’s success of the opposition to luck, as parliamentary majority representatives of the Legal Affairs Committee simply were not attending the session when the decree was voted on. Hence, the document was adopted mainly through the efforts of the Union of National Forces members.

Yesterday, another painful issue – the violation of the Georgian state border – was also discussed at the supreme lawmaking body. Although border guards often managed to detain ships illegally entering the territorial waters of Georgia, the number of violations was not decreasing.

Davit Gulua, deputy head of the Border Guard Department, named several conditions as reasons behind the problems. First, corrupt deals used to take place between judges and criminals; second, at the trials, border violators usually demanded that a witness be sent from Sokhumi to confirm his ship being in an Abkhazian force, and as this was virtually impossible they easily escaped from justice; third, the defense appealed to the Georgian government on behalf of their being a “Georgia-friendly state” and such arguments usually worked well.

Because of this, it is not surprising that the 2003 state budget received just 300 GEL in the form of fines imposed on border violators.

The situation changed drastically after maritime border violation fines increased up to 200,000 GEL; now payment must be made on the spot and without a court ruling. According to Gulua, the aforementioned decision brought about the following result: roughly two million GEL entered the state budget in a short period of time. And most importantly, this decision considerably decreased the number of vessels illegally entering the Abkhazian section of Georgia’s territorial waters.

But a volte-face cannot be ruled out; several days ago parliament supported the legislative amendment, according to which a violation of the maritime border would fall under the criminal code instead of an administrative one. This means that a ruling over maritime violations will once again become the prerogative of the judges.

At yesterday’s session of the Legal Affairs Committee, Davit Gulua firmly opposed making such a step, though in the end his efforts were futile. The MPs sought to appease the deputy head of the Border Guard Department by stressing that current judges were not corrupt and would not make decisions that would infringe upon national interests.