Liberty Institute Staffers Believe Attack in Georgia Linked to Government Corruption
A gang of men stormed the Liberty Institute's Tbilisi office on July 10, beating staff and destroying equipment. The identities and affiliation of the attackers remain unknown. Some observers suspect the raid to be the work of ultra-nationalists thugs. Others, including Liberty Institute staffers, have suggested that government agents were involved in the attack.
Tbilisi Prosecutor Tengiz Makharadze on July 15 denied any link to law-enforcement officials in the incident, and vowed to bring the attackers to justice. Meanwhile, President Eduard Shevardnadze deplored the attack.
Many observers have drawn a parallel between the Liberty Institute incident and the October 2001 attack against the Rustavi-2 independent television station. Both entities have worked to expose instances of high-level government corruption. The Rustavi-2 raid, for example, followed a series of investigative reports about corruption in the state security apparatus. The Rustavi-2 incident and subsequent protests caused Shevardnadze to reshuffle his cabinet. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive].
"We are now witnessing a fight between corrupt entrenched interests and the forces for transformation, for establishing democracy, and the Liberty Institute is a major watchdog for this process." says Archil Gegeshidze, a senior fellow of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies.
"This is a life and death struggle, a critical moment for Georgia's future," Gegeshidze added.
Among Georgia's political class, the Liberty Institute attack appears to be galvanizing opposition to Shevardnadze's administration. On July 12, nine political parties including the New National Movement, the New Rights Party, Traditionalists and National-Democratic Party of Georgia signed a joint statement condemning the government for its increasingly "criminal and violent policy" towards its political opponents.
"Of course I blame Government inaction for what happened
Ken Stier is a freelance journalist who has worked in several countries.
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