giuli_alasania

Giuli Alasania. (Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s Constitutional Court ruled against the mother of former President Mikheil Saakashvili in her appeal against the seizing of her property.

Giuli Alasania demanded that it be declared unconstitutional to seize property which might not be related to a crime.

The four judges on the Appeals Court were evenly divided, which in accordance with the rules means that the appeal is rejected.

The plaintiff claimed that articles 151 and 154 of the Criminal Code allows the possibility to seize property which might not be related to a crime. She claimed that the laws are too vague to determine whose property it is possible to seize, why and for how long.

The Constitutional Court said that the regulations are not vague and it is possible to make a rigorous decision.

Two years ago, Tbilisi City Court ordered the seizure of property belonging to Mikheil Saakashvili and members of his family, and the Appeals Court upheld this decision in September, 2014.

The seizure was related to charges against Saakashvili for allegedly misspending USD 5 million of public money.

The court ordered the seizure of real estate Saakashvili owns in Kvareli, in the eastern Kakheti region. The house is 75 square meters and the property covers an area of almost 2 hectares.

Also to be seized was a 500 square meter land plot in Ozurgeti, in the western Guria region, belonging to his grandmother, Mzia Tsereteli, together with a 10 year old Toyota RAV4 owned by the grandmother but used by Giuli Alasania, the ex-president’s mother.

The court also decided to seize a small plot of land, 0.2 hectares big, in Kvareli, which also belongs to Mrs Alasania, a house in Tbilisi which belongs to Sandra Roelofs, Saakashvili’s wife, and an apartment in Tbilisi which belongs to Mzia Tsereteli.