U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, Kelly Degnan, on Wednesday, said that “the United States is always encouraging all of Georgia’s political parties to come into Parliament and take care of the important business for the people of Georgia in Parliament.”
Asked about the attempt to form a Parliamentary investigative commission on judicial corruption, Ambassador Degnan noted that “that is why you have created this institution, so it’s never helpful when parties boycott the parliamentary sessions.”
She also echoed the U.S. State Department’s recent move to sanction four Georgian judges for their involvement in corruption. Degnan stated that “there was no mistake involved here. The United States has full confidence in the basis for the visa designations against these four individuals for their involvement in corrupt acts.”
“We conducted a very thorough review and collection of information here, most of which is publicly available, before sending these visa designations up through our system to the Secretary of State. Secretary of State Blinken approved these visa designations because we have full confidence in the basis for these designations. As I said, this is an opportunity for Georgian government authorities to investigate these allegations themselves under Georgian law, looking into the same publicly available information and other information, should they choose to do so.
There is also no mistake about participation in the United States judicial programs. These programs are open to judges who are qualified, who have the time to participate, and who will benefit from the programs by bringing these ideas back to their own courtrooms. We have never summoned judges or demanded anything from judges—that is completely false and clearly the result of misinformed people. What we have had are very popular and successful exchange programs and study visits that many of Georgia’s judges have participated in, benefited from, and enjoyed.
What seems strange is to say that you are standing in solidarity with the judges of Georgia, most of whom are extremely professional judges, who want to do their jobs in accordance with the law, by protecting four individuals for whom there is credible information of involvement in corrupt acts. It’s not protecting. It’s not standing in solidarity with professional judges to protect those who’ve been involved with corruption. I would hope that the government authorities here would take advantage of this opportunity to conduct their own investigation into these allegations based on information that is widely available and has been known for years,” she asserted.
