TUGASHUKUM DIPLOMATIK & KONSULER

Gueorgui Makharadze, 1997Kasus sehubungan dengan Imunitas Diplomatik

Oleh:Dyah Ayu Paramita

1101 1006 0071

Fakultas Hukum Universitas Padjadjaran

2009

Kasus

In January 1997, Gueorgui Makharadze, the deputy ambassador of the Republic of Georgia in Washington caused an accident that injured four people and killed a sixteen-year-old girl. He was found to have a blood alcohol content of 0.15, but released from custody because he was a diplomat. The U.S. government asked the Georgian government to waive his immunity, which they did and Makharadze was tried and convicted of manslaughter by the U.S. and sentenced to seven to twenty-one years in prison. The first three years of his sentence were served in a North Carolina prison, after which he was repatriated to his home nation of Georgia to serve the remainder of his sentence.

Georgian diplomat ordered to remain in United StatesJanuary 10, 1997Web posted at: 9:00 p.m. EST

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The high-ranking Georgian diplomat suspected of driving drunk in a high-speed car accident that killed a 16-year-old girl was ordered by his government Friday to remain in the United States pending the outcome of the investigation.

Gueogui Makharadze, Georgia's No. 2 diplomat in Washington had received orders to return home. But Eduard Shevardnadze, president of the former Soviet republic, overturned those instructions Friday and said he was prepared to waive the envoy's diplomatic immunity.

"The president of Georgia reaffirms his concerns over the car accident caused by the Georgian diplomat which resulted in the loss of human life," Shervardnadze's office said in a statement.

Makharadze "shall remain in the United States until the completion of the investigatory and legal procedures, unless a different agreement between the two governments is reached."

Meanwhile, a senior U.S. official told CNN that Washington- area police had stopped Makhardze on suspicion of speeding several times before the January 4 accident near Embassy Row that claimed the life of Jovianne Waltrick of Kensington, Maryland.

Police have said they believe Makharadze's car was traveling as fast as 80 mph when it triggered the multi-vehicle accident that killed Waltrick. They suspected the crash was alcohol-related, but they did not administer Breathalyzer or blood-alcohol tests because of Makharadze's diplomatic immunity.

Shevardnadze, the former Soviet foreign minister, directed Makharadze to remain in the United States after receiving a personal appeal from U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher.

The Georgian Embassy in Washington, however, issued a statement defending its earlier decision to recall Makharadze, but said Shevardnadze bowed to the "deep concerns" of Christopher and "in the interest of U.S.- Georgian relations and on moral and ethical grounds."

"On a personal level, the Georgian government has extended its sincerest condolences to the family of Jovianne Waltrick," the statement said. "It had paid the expenses of her funeral, and is endeavoring to assist her family in obtaining a measure of compensation for their inconsolable loss."

Makharadze's lawyers said in a statement that their client was an "unwitting political pawn" who "has never had a brush with the law."

Lawyers Paul Perito and Kirby Behre said Makharadze's rights had been violated by "the circus-like atmosphere" surrounding the highly publicized case.

Georgian president to waive envoy's immunity

Diplomat could face homicide charges in U.S.

January 12, 1997Web posted at: 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT)

TBILISI, Georgia (CNN) -- Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze on Sunday announced he has decided to waive the diplomatic immunity of a high-ranking official involved in a multiple-car accident in the United States that killed a 16-year-old girl.

The president of the Eastern European nation said he was guided by moral principle, not international politics, in making the decision.

"Frankly, it was with grave feelings and a heavy heart that I made the decision regarding the fate of the young and doubtlessly talented diplomat, Georgy Makharadze," he said. "I cannot imagine diplomacy and politics devoid of moral principle."

Makharadze, 35, a minister at the Georgian Embassy in Washington, was involved in a five-car crash on January 3 that killed 16-year-old Brazilian Jovianne Waltrick, who was living in nearby Kensington, Maryland.

The U.S. attorney general's office has said Makharadze was allegedly speeding and intoxicated at the time of the accident and that it believed it had sufficient evidence to prosecute him.

The State Department on Thursday requested that Georgian authorities lift Makharadze's diplomatic immunity so he could stand trial. Also Thursday, the Georgian diplomat attempted to leave the United States but was returned to Washington.

The United States has yet to bring formal charges against Makharadze. But authorities have said action could occur within the week.

Shevardnadze, who won respect in the West for his efforts to end the Cold War as Soviet foreign minister under Mikhail Gorbachev, also called for new rules governing diplomatic immunity.

"Often, the mantle of the state succeeds in protecting the diplomat while the average citizen ... suffers," he said.

The family of a teen-ager killed last year in a drunken-driving accident involving a diplomat from the Republic of Georgia today filed two civil lawsuits seeking damages against the diplomat.

Two weeks ago, the diplomat, Gueorgui Makharadze, was sentenced to 7 to 21 years in prison in October after pleading guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter and four counts of aggravated assault. Mr. Makharadze was driving drunk at more than 70 miles an hour near Dupont Circle when he hit several cars at a light. Joviane Waltrick, 16, a passenger in one car, died.

The lawsuits, filed in United States District Court for the District of Columbia, also named as defendants the Ford Motor Company, as maker of the diplomat's car, and the Michigan Mutual Insurance Company, and Yanni's Greek Tavern, a Washington restaurant where Mr. Makharadze drank before the accident.

In a statement released by her lawyers, the girl's mother, Viviane Wagner, said, ''These lawsuits will serve as a living tribute to my beautiful daughter by helping to prevent another innocent person from dying at the hands of a drunken diplomat.''

National News Briefs; Envoy Claims Immunity in Wrongful-Death Suit

Published: Sunday, April 26, 1998

A diplomat who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of a Maryland teen-ager in a car wreck is claiming diplomatic immunity in a civil lawsuit filed by the teen-ager's family, its lawyer said on Friday.

The diplomat, Gueorgui Makharadze of Georgia, has invoked the status in trying to dismiss a wrongful-death civil lawsuit filed by the family of Joviane Waltrick, said the lawyer, George Doumar. It seeks $15 million in damages.

Miss Waltrick, 16, of Kensington, Md., was killed in January 1997 in a five-car pileup near Embassy Row. Mr. Makharadze pleaded guilty last October to one count of involuntary manslaughter and four counts of aggravated assault. The police said he had been speeding and had a blood alcohol level of 0.15 percent. In December, he was sentenced to 7 to 21 years in prison.

Fakta Hukum· Pelaku yakni Deputi Duta Besar Georgia untuk Amerika Serikat, Gueorgui Makharadze, 35 tahun;· 10 Januari 1997, Kejadian yakni tabrakan beruntun 5 (lima) mobil yang menewaskan 1 (satu)

orang dan melukai 4 (empat) orang yang disebabkan oleh pelaku berkendara dengan kecepatan tinggi dan mabuk di Dupont Circle, Washington DC;

· Tindakan pertama Kedutaan Besar Georgia yakni memerintahkan Gueorgui Makharadze untuk kembali ke Georgia;

· Presiden Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze membatalkan pemulangan Makharadze dan mencabut imunitas Makharadze 2 (dua) hari setelah kejadian tersebut (12 Januari 1997);

· Makharadze menjalani persidangan sipil di United States District Court for the District of Columbia;

· Diputus bersalah dengan hukuman 7-21 tahun penjara;· 3 (tiga) tahun pertama dijalani di Penjara North Carolina, kemudian pihak Pemerintah Georgia

mengajukan repatriasi dan Makharadze melanjutkan sisa hukumannya di Georgia.

AnalisisImunitas Diplomatik adalah suatu kekebalan yang didapatkan oleh diplomat dalam misinya di Negara penerima (Receiving Country). Kekebalan ini merupakan kekebalan yang absolut dalam bentuk apapun dimulai dari tidak dapat ditilangnya kendaraan diplomatik yang seringkali melanggar peraturan lalu lintas, sampai dengan pembunuhan.

Di dalam kasus ini, adalah suatu kasus yang jarang, di mana Presiden dari Sending State memerintahkan agar diplomat yang melakukan kesalahan tersebut tetap berada di Receiving State sampai dengan proses Peradilan berakhir, dan mencabut imunitas diplomatik sang diplomat sehingga diplomat yang bersangkutan dapat menghadiri pengadilan sebagai bentuk tanggung jawabnya.

Tindakan yang dpaat dilakukan oleh Receiving State maupun Sending State apabila terjadi bebragai pelanggaran pun dapat beragam, mulai dari teguran sampai dengan pernyataan persona non grata.

Di dalam kasus ini, Sending State menghapuskan imunitas diplomatic berdasarkan Article 32 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961). Sehingga penyelenggaraan proses peradilan atas Makharadze dilangsungkan segera dan putusan dari pengadilan Receiving State dapat dilaksanakan atas Makharadze.