Georgia's Fight against Organized Crime

Success or Failure?

Author(s): Alexander Kupatadze
Editor(s): Lili Di Puppo, Iris Kempe, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perovic
Series: Caucasus Analytical Digest (CAD)
Issue: 9
Pages: 9-12
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Jefferson Institute, Washington D.C.; Heinrich Böll Foundation, Tbilisi; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen
Publication Year: 2009

Hardly anyone in Georgia before the year 2004 would have believed that it would have been possible to curb the influence of professional criminals, so-called vory-v-zakone in Russian or qurdebi in Georgian. They lived lavish lives, enjoyed almost unlimited influence over the state, controlled the prisons, provided protection for businesses and acted as arbiters between entrepreneurs. However, the government that came to power as a result of the Rose Revolution in 2003 set out to fight against organized crime, and was quite successful in this endeavor. From the viewpoint of democracy and the rule of law, however, the government's fight was not unproblematic. Critics point to the problem of unchecked police and emphasize reports that law enforcement officers engaged in extrajudicial behavior. This contribution looks at the process of fighting organized crime in Georgia's post-revolutionary period, discusses achievements and drawbacks and points out the remaining challenges.

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