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Difference between revisions of "Kanonieri qurdebi (Georgia)"
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The fraternity of ''qurdebi'' became known as ''qurduli samkaro'' (thieves’ world). Formally, all ''qurdebi'' are equal in status. However, there are significant differences in terms of influence within and beyond the network depending on the resources an individual ''qurdi'' has access to. There are three different factions within the network named after three Georgian cities: the Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Sukhumi networks. These networks have been mostly competing over the resources and influence in Georgia as well as in other countries where Georgian organised crime has been successfully transplanted (Russia, Spain, Austria and France among others). Despite being in competition with each other, the factions also coordinate activities through ''skhodka'', meetings or thieves’ courts where intra and inter-factional conflicts are discussed and new recruits are initiated through ‘baptising’ (‘crowning the candidate’). ''Qurdebi'' collectively pool resources to the ''obshchak'', an administrative and trading body and common fund based on voluntary and involuntary (extortion) contributions from various sources both in and outside of the prisons (Varese 2001).''Qurdebi'' manage the expenditure of the ''obshchak'' and supervise the inflow of income through ''makureblebi'' (‘overseers’), the representatives of the ''qurdebi'' in a particular prison or in a given territory. | The fraternity of ''qurdebi'' became known as ''qurduli samkaro'' (thieves’ world). Formally, all ''qurdebi'' are equal in status. However, there are significant differences in terms of influence within and beyond the network depending on the resources an individual ''qurdi'' has access to. There are three different factions within the network named after three Georgian cities: the Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Sukhumi networks. These networks have been mostly competing over the resources and influence in Georgia as well as in other countries where Georgian organised crime has been successfully transplanted (Russia, Spain, Austria and France among others). Despite being in competition with each other, the factions also coordinate activities through ''skhodka'', meetings or thieves’ courts where intra and inter-factional conflicts are discussed and new recruits are initiated through ‘baptising’ (‘crowning the candidate’). ''Qurdebi'' collectively pool resources to the ''obshchak'', an administrative and trading body and common fund based on voluntary and involuntary (extortion) contributions from various sources both in and outside of the prisons (Varese 2001).''Qurdebi'' manage the expenditure of the ''obshchak'' and supervise the inflow of income through ''makureblebi'' (‘overseers’), the representatives of the ''qurdebi'' in a particular prison or in a given territory. | ||
Most scholarship on the topic finds that thieves-in-law originated in the Soviet gulag labour camps in the 1930s <ref>Chalidze V., 1977. Criminal Russia: Essays on crime int he Soviet Union. 1st edition. New York: Random House.</ref><ref>Applebaum A., 2003. Gulag: A History. New York: Random House Digital, Inc.</ref>. However, the archival evidence from the Caucasian State Okhranka (Tsarist secret service) contained in Georgia suggests that ''kanonieri qurdebi'' predated the Soviet Union. A secret letter from an Okhranka officer dated 1908 speaks about the ‘''vorovskoy zhargon''’ (thieves’ slang) in the Tbilisi city prison (Okhranka Documents, letter N 872, caseload of 1908 contained in Central Historical Archive Fund No 94, case No 126, retrieved 5 June 2011). In the same period the Okhranka confiscated a letter from an inmate that complained about thieves’ extortion and their control of the prisons in Tbilisi (Okhranka Documents, caseload of 1908 contained in Central Historical Archive Fund No 94, case No 126, retrieved 5 June 2011). ''Qurdebi'' emerged as an influential power structure in the Soviet gulags because they were empowered by the Soviet authorities to control the gulag population<ref>Shelley L., 2007. Georgian Organised Crime in L. Shelley, E. R. Scott and A. Latta (eds.), Organized Crime and Corruption in Georgia (New York: Routledge)</ref>(Montefiore 2007). Because the gulag was their birthplace, the impact of ''qurdebi'' has been most consistent in prisons, despite their fading influence over politics and the economy towards the end of 1990s. | Most scholarship on the topic finds that thieves-in-law originated in the Soviet gulag labour camps in the 1930s <ref>Chalidze V., 1977. Criminal Russia: Essays on crime int he Soviet Union. 1st edition. New York: Random House.</ref><ref>Applebaum A., 2003. Gulag: A History. New York: Random House Digital, Inc.</ref>. However, the archival evidence from the Caucasian State Okhranka (Tsarist secret service) contained in Georgia suggests that ''kanonieri qurdebi'' predated the Soviet Union. A secret letter from an Okhranka officer dated 1908 speaks about the ‘''vorovskoy zhargon''’ (thieves’ slang) in the Tbilisi city prison (Okhranka Documents, letter N 872, caseload of 1908 contained in Central Historical Archive Fund No 94, case No 126, retrieved 5 June 2011). In the same period the Okhranka confiscated a letter from an inmate that complained about thieves’ extortion and their control of the prisons in Tbilisi (Okhranka Documents, caseload of 1908 contained in Central Historical Archive Fund No 94, case No 126, retrieved 5 June 2011). ''Qurdebi'' emerged as an influential power structure in the Soviet gulags because they were empowered by the Soviet authorities to control the gulag population<ref>Shelley L., 2007. Georgian Organised Crime in L. Shelley, E. R. Scott and A. Latta (eds.), Organized Crime and Corruption in Georgia (New York: Routledge)</ref>(Montefiore 2007<ref>Montefiore, S.S., 2007. ''Stalin: The court of the red tsar''. Vintage</ref>). Because the gulag was their birthplace, the impact of ''qurdebi'' has been most consistent in prisons, despite their fading influence over politics and the economy towards the end of 1990s. | ||
[[File:Kanonieri qurdebi White Flags.jpg|270px|thumb|right|White Flags by Nodar Dumbadze]] | [[File:Kanonieri qurdebi White Flags.jpg|270px|thumb|right|White Flags by Nodar Dumbadze]] | ||