Foreign prosecutors to help Georgia investigate former officials

(Photo by the Prosecutor’s Office.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–Three law experts are coming to Georgia to assist with the prosecution of former officials.

Many former government officials have been put on trial since the change of government in 2012. Western leaders have expressed concern that the cases are politically motivated, as the National Movement claims.

Now, the Prosecutor’s Office says three internationally experienced prosecutors will assist in the investigation of ‘politically sensitive’ cases.

“This is important for increasing the international standards of transparency of the processes of investigation of higher officials,” Deputy Chief Prosecutor Giorgi Gogadze told journalists on Tuesday.

All three have been chief prosecutor in their own country. Sir Geoffrey Nice was also deputy to the main prosecutor at the international tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 1998-2006 and personally lead the case against Slobodan Milosevic.

Moshe Lador is former state prosecutor of Israel until the end of 2013. Before that, he was main prosecutor of Jerusalem.

Paul Coffey, the third adviser, is former head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s organized crime division.

The Prosecutor’s Office plans to put together a group of consultants who will share in the experiences of the three advisers and listen to their recommendations.