Abkhazia's Supreme Court upholds opposition lawsuit against the Prosecutor General's Office
Court in Abkhazia satisfies opposition lawsuit
The Supreme Court of Abkhazia has satisfied the lawsuit of the opposition, recognizing the inaction of the General Prosecutor’s Office and obliging it to report on the progress of the audit on the fact of possible embezzlement during the purchase of materials for the overhaul of the high-voltage line “Achguara”.
The confrontation between the Prosecutor General’s Office and opposition leader Adgur Ardzinba began in November 2022, when Ardzinba presented documents at a press conference proving that equipment and materials for the repair of the Achguara line were purchased at inflated prices. According to the oppositionist’s calculations, at least 50 million rubles [about $510,000] of budget funds were stolen as a result of this fraud.
The President of Abkhazia Aslan Bzhania on the same day instructed the Prosecutor General’s Office to conduct a check on this fact, giving it two weeks to do so.
But the Prosecutor General’s Office was clearly in no hurry to fulfill the order of the president, and five months later, in April this year, Adgur Ardzinba sued the Prosecutor General and his deputy, accusing them of inaction.
And now, the court sided with the oppositionist, recognized the inaction of the Prosecutor General’s Office and ordered it to provide the full volume of materials on the line of “Achguara”, which it has already found.
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The Prosecutor General’s Office can still try to appeal the verdict in the highest instance – the Presidium of the Supreme Court. However, according to most experts, the chances of an appeal are zero. Because it is not only about this particular trial, but also about the confrontation that has recently emerged between the Prosecutor General’s Office and the judicial branch of government.
In August, the prosecutor general accused the judiciary of cracking down on corruption cases. The prosecutor said that unless judges who release corrupt officials are punished and parliament adopts certain amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code, there will be no progress in corruption cases.
The assembly of judges, in turn, reacted sharply to this statement, accusing the Prosecutor General’s Office of unprofessionalism.
In general, a frank confrontation between the prosecutor’s office and the court is on the face of it.
The only thing left is to find out what happened during the repair of the Achguara line.
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