See below an interview with Aage Borchgrevink, a Senior Advisor to the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC), who led the NHC mission to Georgia during the October 26 parliamentary elections. The mission consisted of four people, two of whom were in the group with the representatives of the European Platform for Democratic Elections, and two others – in the group of the Human Rights Centre.
The "Caucasian Knot" (CK): How many polling stations did you personally visit during the elections?
Aage Borchgrevink (AB): On the voting day, I visited nine polling stations in the rural area of the Sagarejo District of Kakheti, in Eastern Georgia. And I was present at one polling station during the vote tabulation; there were no violations there, although I was not able to verify the counting results against the data recorded by the Central Election Commission (CEC).
CK: What violations did you personally witness?
AB: On the voting day, at the polling stations, I saw voters taking photos of their ballots, which is a violation of the law. I also saw how the ruling party observers were directing or instructing voters and members of the precinct election commission in a proactive manner that was not in line with their legal rights. However, the main violation of the law was the presence of unaccredited groups of men near polling stations, which were present at eight of the nine polling stations I visited. The law provides for unhindered access of voters to polling stations, but in many cases these men on duty outside polling station had voters' ID cards in their hands, called these voters or brought them in cars, talked to them outside polling station, and then returned the ID cards and allowed them to enter polling stations. One of these men tried to prevent me from entering the polling station, but when he realized that I was a foreign observer, he went away saying, "No problem, no problem." Neither the precinct election commission nor the police responded to these informal securities. In my opinion, the secrecy and freedom of voting at these stations were compromised.
CK: How did other observers – from NGOs and from political parties that participated in the elections – react to the violations? Were the observers active? Were there any signs of collusion? Was there any intimidation of the observers?
AB: The NGO observers were active; they recorded violations and reported them. They were not threatened. The observers from the opposition United National Movement (UNM) Party were passive, while the observers from the ruling party sometimes seemed to be sort of informal leaders; they directed the actions at polling stations.
CK: How did the police and the election administration react to your reports of violations? What violations did your colleagues from the same mission witness on the voting day?
AB: I saw no police on the voting day, except for a few cars late in the evening. At polling stations in Marneuli, Tsalka and Gardabani municipalities, observers from another mission, HRC/NHC, recorded several cases of voters photographing ballots in polling booths. Based on our observations, the chair of the election commission at the Gardabani polling station asked voters to delete illegally taken photos. There were several cases of two persons entering the polling booth at once, or when commission members monitored the booths in a way that violated the voting secrecy. During the voting, our observers filed 12 complaints and made 26 entries in the polling station logs.
CK: Can the publications of the Azerbaijani and Russian media that demonized Europe be treated as interference into the electoral process in Georgia, significantly affecting the election outcomes?
AB: The Russia's influence in the Georgian public space was noticeable for many years and has increased before the elections. It is difficult to assess the effect of such information and propaganda operations. The need for fact-checking and countering disinformation is huge in Georgia, as in many other countries. It is important to emphasize the need for impartial work by both government agencies and independent media, but as we see, independent media and human rights defenders are under threat due to the law on foreign influence and other steps taken by the Georgian government.
CK: In his interview, Bidzina Ivanishvili stated that he has proofs of the guilt of some opposition members in a conspiracy against the constitutional order of Georgia. At the same time, he himself noted that his party requires a parliamentary majority to hold the opposition accountable. Is this the disinformation that influenced the elections?
AB: Of course, it is serious when the leader of the ruling party makes grave and unjustified accusations against the opposition during the election campaign. Potentially, this also may become the subject of legal proceedings and <has been recognized> as a violation of the electoral legislation.
The CK has prepared the reports "Parliamentary Elections in Georgia" and "Programmes of the Georgian Leading Oppositional Parties".
CK: How legitimate is the demand of the coalition "My Vote" to cancel the election outcomes at 1131 polling stations in relation to 417,000 voters?
AB: In my opinion, Georgian election observers have done professional and serious work to collect proofs of election frauds; and we support their demand.
The observation mission "My Vote" has announced the involvement of the Central Election Commission of Georgia in the falsification of the outcomes of the parliamentary elections. "My Vote" has called on the prosecutor's office to investigate the actions of the CEC bosses in connection with mass violations at the parliamentary elections.
CK: The ruling party has blamed Saakashvili for the 2008 war, even though the International Criminal Court (ICC) had found Georgia's innocence. Are there any unexplained circumstances about Russia's guilt, which banned cooperation with the ICC in 2015?
AB: I have been documenting crimes during and after the 2008 war; and we have found proofs of war crimes and crimes against humanity, mostly committed by Russian-backed forces, but also crimes committed by the Georgian party. The main problem is that no one has been held accountable. I hope that the ICC, which finally opened an investigation in 2016, will be able to complete its work in Georgia and ultimately bring those responsible to justice. The proofs suggest that Russia's top political leadership, the then President Medvedev and the then Prime Minister Putin, may be criminally responsible for the crimes committed in Georgia in 2008.
Earlier, in 2010, Aage Borchgrevink conducted observations in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region during the elections to local government bodies in Georgia. He also spoke about this in his interview with the CK. At that time, according to his story, numerous violations were noted at polling stations. "There was constant pressure against candidates, commission members and observers," said Borchgrevink. He noted that in 2008 he was also in Georgia and monitored the elections to the Georgian Parliament.
Interviewed by Beslan Kmuzov, a CK's correspondent.