12 September 2008, 21:24
Russia accused of genocide not to file counterclaim to Georgia
Russia, which was accused by Tbilisi of genocide against Georgians, is not going to lodge a counterclaim against Georgia. This was stated by Kirill Gevorgyan, Russia's ambassador to the Netherlands and representative of the Russian Federation at hearings at the International Court.
On September 10, three-day hearing of Georgia's claim against the Russian Federation came to an end in The Hague. Georgia accuses Russia of breaching the Convention on Eradication of Racial Discrimination in the territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" writes that Russia believes that it has convincingly refuted all Georgian charges at the International Court. And according to the Russian representative, Russia "needs no counterclaim."
He has also noted that the Court in The Hague is considering not claims but disputes between states: "Within this dispute we have enough chances to say what we wish to say. Therefore, in this case we need no counterclaims," the Russian representative has stated.
Meanwhile, the international court in The Hague has not yet decided whether it is competent to consider Georgia's claim against Russia. Its spokesman Boris Khaim has stated that at the given stage of the process the Court is examining whether it possesses jurisdiction to consider Georgia's claim against Russia, the newspaper "Moskovskiy Komsomolets" writes.
