Sukhum high-rise affair: Another court sides with the mayor's office, not with citizens

Sukhum high-rise affair

Another stage of the high-profile legal battle between the Sukhumi City Assembly and the Mayor’s Office ended with a victory for the latter, the Cassation Board of the Supreme Court leavig unchanged the decision of the Sukhumi City Court in the case of construction of a high-rise in the city center. The losers are not only the City Assembly, but also a part of Sukhumi residents, according to whom this multi-storey building does not fit into the image of the embankment, and its construction contradicts the decisions of the City Assembly adopted in 2009.

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The construction of a skyscraper in Sukhum, in the city center, began last year and violates ordinances which few even know about.

On June 29, 2023, the Sukhumi City Court declared invalid the decisions of the City Assembly that suspended the issuance of permits for capital construction in the historical zone of Sukhumi and limited the height of buildings being constructed in the center to 16 meters. The City Council filed a cassation appeal, but in this instance sided with the City Hall.

The court, according to lawyer Said Gezerdav, who represents the City Council, “is causing significant damage to the preservation of the historical and cultural heritage.”

According to Gezerdav, they have reasons to believe that the court was biased and the position of the mayor’s office unreasonable. The cassation ruling will be appealed to a higher instance.

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Here is what the journalists who covered the trial wrote about it on social networks:

Izida Chania, “Nuzhnaya Gazeta”:

If we believe the representative of the Sukhum administration in court, we do not need local self-government bodies (assemblies). The administration can solve all issues without representatives of the people. The head of the administration is again a representative of the President and not of the people.

Eleonora Giloyan, Abaza-TV:

Paradoxically, in about all my chats right now there is about this kind of conversation going on:

-We lost

-No wonder.

-No matter we’ll fight again.

And these “we” are not the litigants at all. They are my friends, coworkers, family members, acquaintances, and just plain townspeople. Every one of them thinks they lost today. I do not remember other such trials and certainly do not remember having any hopes and being proud of the Sukhumi City Assembly. But everything happens for the first time. Guys, hang in there and reach all possible instances. Because you are doing it for all of us.

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