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Monday,
July 23,
2007, #138 (1405)
Over 20 families are left without homes after the Supervisory Service of Tbilisi City Hall began destroying a 13-story apartment building in central Tbilisi on July 20 which, they claim, was illegally constructed. Residents say their property is being illegally seized from them. Giorgi Shioshvili, a building resident, told The Messenger on July 22 that police and firefighters entered the building by force on Friday, blocking the entrances and kicking residents out of the building. “On the second floor there were grandparents with their three grandchildren. Special groups barged into the flat and forced them to leave. Many people panicked. Some of us were in the street and were not allowed to return to our flats to get our furniture and belongings that we had there,” Shioshvili said to The Messenger. “I am now under the open sky. I have no other place to go with my family, with my little baby. As you can see there is at least a truck load of things I managed to retrieve from our house,” he said. Residents of the building are putting up a fight and want to file a case in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Legal representative of the residents Davit Gabunia filed a case in the Tbilisi Civil Court to stop the Supervisory Service from destroying the building. The case is consideration in court. According to resident Tamar Skhvitaridze, the Supervisory Service has no right to destroy the building while the case they filed is in court and under discussion, but she doubts that their demands will be met. “They will do whatever they want,” she said. According to Tbilisi’s Supervisory Service the apartment building was illegally built in 1998–1999. Authorities also claim that the building was unsafe to live in, saying if there was even a slight earthquake it could collapse. Shioshvili told The Messenger that they have documentation that the building is solid. He says, “Even the workers who are trying to destroy the building are having great difficulties because it is very strong.” Rustavi 2 is reporting that City Hall announced they will provide families with alternative residences or compensation. It is unclear how much is being offered. Some residents refrain from naming the amount but claim it is too small and will not give them enough to buy a centrally located apartment in Tbilisi. “I had a flat of modern European standards and furnished with modern furniture. All this is lost and I’m without shelter at the moment. I’m being pressured to agree to a small amount of compensation that the government is offering, otherwise I’m facing a dead end,” Shioshvili told The Messenger. The building being demolished is located next to the building where the Kempinski Hotel will be located. Some residents suspect that the additional land is to be incorporated into the hotel’s complex. Shioshvili says that if the government really wants this building to be destroyed or sold, it’s okay—all residents are asking for is fair compensation. “They just told us we would be compensated, but only orally. We do not have legal written documentation proving this. And of course they don’t care about the emotional hardship this caused us,” Shioshvili told The Messenger. Human Rights Ombudsman Sozar Subari called City Hall’s actions “barbaric” and “illegal” and said, “When we treat private property this way, it means that we do not live in a constitutional state.” |
Apartment Building in Central Tbilisi Demolished; Property Rights Again in Question 
