Mining company files 30 new lawsuits against Shukruti residents, 19 September 2024

Manganese mining company Magharoeli LLC has filed lawsuits against 30 residents in the village of Shukruti, demanding that the residents pay a total of ₾5.5 million ($2.1 million), as well as restricting their property rights...

The Shukruti residents’ lawyer, Lado Kutateladze, told OC Media that they only found out about the lawsuits on Monday, adding that this latest series of cases aimed to pressure Shukruti residents to end their protest against mining operations under their village..

Kutateladze said that the Sachkhere District Court satisfied Magharoeli’s request to ban the residents from holding protests in front of the mine and to prohibit them from selling or mortgaging their homes in Shukruti.

The court already agreed to ban residents from holding protests in front of the mine in August. At the time, Magharoeli also demanded ₾5 million ($1.9 million)  in compensation for company loss experienced as a result of the protests.

He believes the company sought to prevent Shukruti residents from selling their homes in order to ensure that it receives the money it is requesting if the court rules in the company’s favour.

According to Kutateladze, 13 out of the 30 new lawsuits were directed towards people who had never protested. He said that the company did not have the right to file these 13 lawsuits in the first place, and that ‘the court should not have accepted’ the complaint...

Kutateladze said that he believed the court would lift the prohibitions it had placed on the Shukruti residents if the proceedings went to trial. However, he said that it is not yet known when the discussion of the dispute will begin, as, according to Kutateladze, the company just wants to stall the issue.

He stated that it was more advantageous for the company to have a complaint in the court and for these prohibitions to be in force, rather than have a decision, in order to put pressure on the people participating in the protests...