WASHINGTON, October 24 (RIA Novosti) - The United States is concerned about Georgian authorities using judicial system for political retribution, the spokesperson for the US Department of State Jen Psaki said.
"We continue to stress to the Georgian Government the importance of due process and rule of law and of conducting investigations with transparency to avoid even the perception that the judicial system is being used for political retribution," Psaki said at a daily press briefing Thursday.
"We're closely following the investigations, and have long been, of current and former officials," Psaki said.
The spokesperson has recalled that Washington has already "expressed some concerns about the way some cases have been handled, and those concerns remain".
On Wednesday, Tbilisi City Court sentenced Georgia's former Minister of Defense Bachana Akhalaia to seven and a half years in prison over a special operation gone wrong in 2006. Three young men were eliminated in course of the operation. The investigation concluded that they were going to organize a mass jail break.
Bachana Akhalaia was arrested a month after the October 2012 Georgian parliamentary elections. At various times, Akhalaia was indicted on various criminal cases, such as abuse of power, inhuman treatment and torture, but was acquitted.
