Modest charm of the Georgian Themis
In recent weeks, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in Georgia demanding integration with Europe from the government.
After the start of the NWO by Russia in Ukraine, the European Council accepted applications from Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia for accelerated accession to the EU. Ukraine and Moldova have received candidate status, while Georgia’s application has not yet been approved.
The Council said Georgia must first reform to make its institutions more accountable and democratic.
But it’s not that easy. One of the main problems to which indicated in the local division of Transparency International, is that officials do not declare all their assets.
In a new investigation, journalists from Studio Monitor (an OCCRP partner in Georgia) found that the problem also affects the highest levels of the country’s judicial system.
One of the most influential judges in Georgia Levan Murusidze did not indicate in the declarations the assets of his longtime lover: several apartments, expensive jewelry and designer clothes that she had acquired in recent years.
The cost of the purchases far exceeds the couple’s reported income, raising questions about the source of the funds.
During the previous investigations Studio Monitor journalists found that another influential judge, Mikhail Chinchaladze, did not declare expensive real estate, which is registered to his aunt.
According to the property declaration of the President of the Court of Appeal Mikhail Chinchaladze, he is poor, but owns a luxurious cottage in Saguramo. His enrichment began in 2012, when Georgian Dream appointed him, a former prosecutor, as a judge.
A few days ago, the leader of the Droa party, Elene Khishtaria, called on Georgia’s international partners, including businessmen, to impose sanctions against judges. Khoshtaria nominated 9 judges, including Mikhail Chinchaladze.
Public members say Murusidze and Chinchaladze lead a powerful “clan” of judges that is hindering reforms needed to strengthen ties between Georgia and the EU. Both judges are connected to a powerful body called the High Council of Justice, the main oversight body of the country’s judiciary. They are also believed to have a secret relationship with Bidzina Ivanishvilithe richest man in Georgia, the “gray eminence” who stands behind the country’s ruling party “Georgian Dream”.
Head of the non-governmental organization Judicial Watch Nazi Janezashviliwho has worked for four years as a non-judicial member of the High Council of Justice, calls Chinchaladze the “permanent” leader of the clan along with Levan Murusidze.
According to her, it was Murusidze who helped Chinchaladze establish a secret relationship with Ivanishvili.
“They got on really well. The power of Bidzina Ivanishvili rests on this judicial system.”
Mikhail Chinchaladze and Bidzina Ivanishvili declined to comment.
Murusidze did not answer questions about his declarations and purchases of his beloved, telling reporters that he was not married.
Taste for luxury
In a photo posted to Instagram in 2019, three middle-aged couples pose in a crowd on the steps of an ancient Greek ruin.
One of the men in the photo is Levan Murusidze, Judge of the Tbilisi Court of Appeal. But he is far more powerful than his position suggests: from 2013 to 2017, he was secretary of the High Council of Justice, the important agency responsible for appointing Georgian judges.
Sitting in front of him Lela Chania, Chief Secretary of the Tbilisi City Court. Officially, they are not married, but, apparently, they live together. Murusidze has never denied Georgian media reports in which the woman was called his wife.
The relationship of the couple still has documentary evidence, albeit unusual: in the records of Murusidze’s charitable donations. The judge supported the fund for the construction of the monastery complex, and the names of all donors and members of their families are listed on the website of the fund. Since at least 2010, Chania has been listed there among Murusidze’s relatives along with his parents. With such a relationship, she, and all her solid assets, should appear in his annual declaration of property. Journalists studied Murusidze’s declarations up to 2006: Chania is not listed anywhere.
She told reporters that she did not live with Murusidze. “I don’t live anywhere permanently,” she said. “I have my own house, but if I stay somewhere else, it doesn’t concern you.”
In addition to Greece, the couple also vacationed in Portugal this year, but journalists have not only evidence of their joint vacation: Burusidze and Chania’s cars were parked outside the judge’s house in the village of Dzegvi, northwest of Tbilisi. The journalists saw them leaving the house, each in their own car, and together. When once the journalists tried to approach the couple, they hurriedly left.
Perhaps Murusidze did not disclose his relationship with Chania, since it would be difficult to explain her wealth. She comes from a poor family, but in recent years – just since her relationship with Murusidze began – she has made a number of expensive purchases.
In 2015 and 2016, Chania bought two apartments and two plots in Tbilisi and another apartment in the Black Sea resort town of Batumi.
The total value of the property was just over $166,000. Journalists received sales contracts, judging by which, she paid for the property without using a mortgage.
Until 2015, Chania was registered in a small apartment of 12 square meters, and her annual salary in 2022 is 33,000 lari ($12,000). According to information from open sources, she does not have a business that could bring additional income.
If Chania saved her entire salary, it would take her at least 14 years to buy this property. She did not answer the journalist’s questions about how she managed to buy apartments and plots, and whether they really belong to Murusidze.
Chania has other expenses as well. Her Facebook photos indicate that she prefers luxury brand clothing and accessories. The photos were removed after the journalists got access to them. Her wardrobe includes many brands such as Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Prada, Moschino, Furla, Miu Miu, Jimmy Choo, Casadei and Valentino. She also has dozens of expensive gold rings, necklaces, earrings and bracelets.
Murusidze’s official salary, just under 73,000 lari (about $26,000) a year, is significantly higher than Chania’s. But it still does not correspond to her solid property. In addition, about half of his salary is spent on paying off loans he took out to build a house. He has no other known sources of income.
Property worth more than ₾5,000 ($1,800) must be declared, but the couple did not.
He also suggested a possible reform. “As far as we know… there is no system in the Civil Service Bureau to check whether [люди] under one roof,” he said. “We need to introduce such a mechanism.”
Elguja Makalatiya, deputy head of the Civil Service Bureau, acknowledged that not only joint utility payments or money transfers between bank accounts, but also social media accounts can be used as evidence that people live together.
Besik Vekua, head of declaration monitoring at the Bureau, dismissed TI’s criticism. According to him, the Bureau cannot take action on the basis of press reports, but can reconsider the Murusidze case if it receives an official appeal.
In a written response to journalists’ questions about Murusidze, representatives of the Bureau stated that they had checked over 2,000 property declarations over the past five years. Having discovered violations in more than half of them, they imposed appropriate fines, but only 11 declarations were submitted to the prosecutor’s office for consideration.
“Clan” and council
Murusidze is not the only influential judge who did not declare all his assets and did not face consequences.
A joint investigation by Studio Monitor and the Georgian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty found that another influential judge, Mikhail Chinchaladze, did not declare several apartments and garages in the historic Vera district in central Tbilisi. The property was bought by his aunt for 105,000 lari ($63,000) in 2009. Two owners of apartments in the same building told reporters that Chinchaladze himself owns the property registered to his aunt. One way or another, he had to declare the assets during the period when she lived with him in his house.
Chinchaladze did not answer journalists’ questions about the apartments and did not deny aspects of the story after it aired. But there doesn’t seem to be any repercussions for him. The Civil Service Bureau told reporters that no violations were found in its 2019 declaration.
The cases of Murusidze and Chinchaladze are particularly important, as their independence was already in doubt.
Informed sources say that Murusidze and Chinchaladze will lead a group of judges that has seized control of the Georgian judiciary. Taking advantage of their position, they protect their posts and, perhaps, even influence the outcome of some cases.
This group is called “clan” or “clan of judges”. It has no formal structure, it is not known how large it is, although according to various sources it consists of 30 people. Law enforcement agencies have not investigated the activities of this group, and there is no hard evidence of corruption among its possible participants. But its existence and alleged pernicious influence have been described by independent observers, high-ranking politicians and officials, and international organizations.
Kakha Tsikarishvili, a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, is part of a group of independent lawyers who are calling for judicial reforms. According to him, it is difficult to name specific cases of corruption within the clan.
The group is believed to include the heads of many regional and district courts, as well as members of the High Council of Justice, which plays a leading role in the Georgian judiciary. This office appoints all judges in the country. It has the power to reprimand or dismiss judges for poor performance and to reward judges for good performance. Incentives may include lifetime appointments.
The council consists of eight judges, six non-judicial members (usually lawyers), and a chairman. Murusidze himself was the secretary of the council from 2013 to 2017. Many of the council’s judges, both former and current, are believed to have close personal and professional ties to Chinchaladze. In 2017, for the first time in the history of Georgia, the council appointed him as a judge for life.
Tsikarishvili, a former Supreme Court judge assistant, echoes the idea that the group of judges has established mutually beneficial relationships with the highest echelons of government in Georgia.
The European Commission has made a number of recommendations that need to be implemented in order to continue the dialogue on Georgia’s integration into the EU.
One of them is to “ensure a fully and truly independent, accountable and impartial judiciary.” The other is to “fulfill the obligations of ‘deoligarchization’ by eliminating the excessive influence of personal interests in economic, political and public life.”
The Commission did not mention Ivanishvili personally. But the June 20 rally had a very specific addressee, and MEP Rasa Yuknevicienė made it clear: