A/56/253 Association he considered that the books had been confiscated illegally by the police. “In the process of further examination, Jimsher and Zaza Gabadashvili explained that the house at 16 Kacharava Street in Tbilisi, had been bought from citizen Gurchemelia in 1991. Both of the brothers had been followers of Vedic culture in the house at 16 Kacharava Street. The Veda Cultural Centre had been founded and registered in 1992 according to Decision No. 726 of Gldani District Municipality. Until 1995, the Centre had been led by Otar Nachkebia and later by Iakob Jijavadze. “Now they were against having the Veda Cultural Centre in their house and demanded that the house be vacated by its followers and their cellar of its literature. “Citizen Laura Gurchumelia was also questioned. She proved that she used to own a private house at 16 Kacharava Street and because of hard economic conditions she had had to sell it later to Jimsher and Zaza Gabadashvili. The head of the Fourth Police Department of Gldani district, Gia Zodelava, stated that on 22 September 2000, the police had been petitioned by the inhabitants of Kacharava Street complaining against the activities of the Hare Krishna followers. The citizens had mentioned in their complaint that the loud prayers taking place 24 hours a day invaded their privacy. Only after that had the police taken the decision to search the house to investigate what was alleged in the complaint. On 23 September 2000, Gia Zodelava and the Head of Administrative Police, J. Kbilashvili, had personally visited the house at 16 Kacharava Street, where they had met the President of the Hare Krishna Association, Iakob Jijavadze. To their request for relevant documentation the Association appeared not to be registered at all, but later while examining the premises they had discovered 150 tons of literature. The precise amount of literature was indicated by the President of the Association, I. Jijavadze. The police asked for documents relating to the literature but none could be produced. On further examination of the issue, the police discovered proof that the books were being sold as basic books of the Bible. On 24 September, the police began the process of removing the books, an action ruled lawful by the Gldani District Court. Part of the confiscated literature was kept in the storerooms of the Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. “On 5 October 2000, the Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council of Georgia on Human Rights Issues, Ms. R. Beridze, was petitioned by followers of Hare Krishna. The case was under investigation and the Deputy Secretary had received all the available information on the case. On 29 November, the Procurator refused to re-open the case on the matter for lack of any indication of a crime. The Procurator of Gldani District ordered the return of the literature. Despite the successful criminal proceedings and the return of the literature, clearly some of the material had been damaged. The Hare Krishna Association had suffered moral and economic damage. They can bring a civil case and compensation may be made for the damage.” 62