Оn June 19, аt the presentation of the government program in the Parliament Mamuka Bakhtadze, a candidate for Prime-Minister, stated that the 20,000 GEL [1], he donated to the United National Movement in 2012, wasn’t his money and his bank account was used ‘only formally [2]”.

According to Georgian legislation, it is illegal to donate money through third person. This violation envisages a fine of twice the amount that was illegally donated. However, on 12th of December of 2012, an Amnesty Act [3] was approved that abolished administrative sanctions for this type of violation. Therefore, no sanction can be carried out in response to this violation.

Nevertheless, this case is connected to a candidate for the highest political position of the country and it is thus important to study it. The candidate for Prime-Minister should once again clarify his role in the contribution made to the United National Movement. It is essential to find out whether or not he had any part in illegal activities. While it is true that the article in question is under amnesty and no sanction can be applied, TI Georgia still addresses the State Audit Office to look into the case. Notably, State Audit Office had similar practice in 2013 [4], when it considered an amnestied violation and found a breach of law, even though no sanction could have been applied.

Disclaimer: Prior to the publication of this statement, several media outlets had already disseminated our comment on the case, where we did not mention that the violation was amnestied. We regret that this might have given an incomplete overview of the case.