Khatuna Kalmakhelidze

Khatuna Kalmakhelidze
ხათუნა კალმახელიძე

Kalmakhelidze (left) meeting US Ambassador to Georgia John R. Bass
Minister of Corrections and Legal Assistance
In office
December 21, 2009  September 19, 2012
President Mikheil Saakashvili
Preceded by Dimitri Shashkin[1]
Succeeded by Giorgi Tughushi
Personal details
Born (1979-02-11) February 11, 1979
Tbilisi, Georgia
Religion Georgian Orthodox

Khatuna Kalmakhelidze (Georgian: ხათუნა კალმახელიძე; born February 11, 1979) is a Georgian politician who served as the Minister of Corrections and Legal Assistance from December 2009 to September 2012.[2]

Early years

Kalmakhelidze was born on February 11, 1979 in Tbilisi, Georgia. She graduated from Hunter College with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science cum laude and minored in Economics. From 2005 until 2007, she studied at Elliott School of International Affairs in George Washington University, obtaining her Master's in International Affairs and International Security. While in the United States, Kalmakhelidze also worked at the Georgian Mission to the United Nations. In 2006, she worked at Political Finance Research Unit of International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES).[3]

Political career

After returning to Georgia, Kalmakhelidze was hired as the Deputy Political Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. On December 21, 2009 she was appointed Minister of Corrections and Legal Assistance.[3][4] After taking office, Kalmakhelidze instituted reforms in the penitentiary system of the country, bringing 80% of the state prisons in line with European standards.[5]

Kalmakhelidze filed resignation on September 19, 2012, amid a public outrage after a video footage of inmates being beaten and sodomized in a Tbilisi prison emerged a day earlier.[6]

Kalmakhelidze speaks English, German, French and Russian.[3][7]

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/11/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.