MIA: Georgia decreases crime and increased crime-solving

As reported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Georgia, within 6 months they managed to reach a 30-percent increase in crime-solving. The Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili said that the police was acting efficiently; however, his opinion was not shared by the political expert Gela Vasadze, the leader of the NGO "Free Zone", and Zaza Khatiashvili, the Chairman of the Bar Association of Georgia.

The Premier praised the MIA at a press conference held on September 5, where he also noted that the amnesty, under which in January-July 2013 Georgia released 14,000 prisoners, had not deteriorated the police's achievements.

According to the MIA's official data, during the first half of 2013 the country registered 16,590 crimes; of which 8840 (53.3%) were solved. As compared to the same period in 2012, the number of crimes went down by 4126, whole the solving rate went up by 30.2%.

However, Mr Vasadze believes that the sense of security among the population is much more important than the official statistics.

Mr Khatiashvili has also criticised the work of country's security agencies and legislative bodies. "People are illegally detained and cruelly treated in jails. The Parliament adopts laws that increase the powers of the prosecution and belittle the powers of attorneys. This is a violation of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which guarantees the right to a fair trial," he told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.