NGO concerned over illegal policing measures

A Georgian nongovernmental organisation called Association of Young Lawyers expresses its concern in connection with increasingly frequent facts of killing of criminals by law enforcement agencies. This is said in a statement of the Association published on 14 December in connection with a special operation by the police which led to killing a criminal, Revaz Sarjveladze, who had broke away from prison, News Georgia reports.

"This fact confirms that the human right to life is at risk," the statement reads.

"Sarjveladze has become the 16th criminal killed in 2005. 'Elimination' is an emergency measure of fighting crime and increasingly frequent facts of its use indicate incapability and incompetence of law enforcement agencies," according to the document.

The statement also reads that increasingly frequent facts of killings by officers of law enforcement agencies make no sense of criminal law postulates such as the presumption of innocence and principles of legality.

The Association of Young Lawyers welcomes fight against crime, but considers killings by the police unacceptable. The NGO calls on the Georgian Prosecutor General's Office for reaction to this fact and a prompt investigation into increasingly frequent facts of killings.

Mr Rezo Sarjveladze was killed as he put up armed resistance to officers of the Main Department of the Criminal Police during a special operation in Tbilisi. In the summer of 2004, Mr Sarjveladze broke away from prison and has since been on the wanted list.

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