Representatives of the Georgian Association of Young Lawyers told a press conference in Tbilisi on 23 July that hundreds of thousands of laris from the presidential fund were spent last year in violation of existing legislation. Some 200,000 laris ($110,405) were paid to an Italian company for unspecified \"consultations,\" while 33,000 laris were used to cover the travel costs of Georgian parliament deputies who accompanied President Mikheil Saakashvili on a visit to Italy. At the same time, only 4,000 laris from the fund was allocated in emergency aid to inhabitants of Dusheti whose homes were destroyed or damaged in flooding earlier this year. The independent daily \"Rezonansi\" similarly alleged on 22 July that 180,000 laris from the presidential fund was made available to Supreme Court Chairman Kote Kemularia to cover the cost of renovation of his office and the purchase of an automobile. (Caucasus Press)