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Alla DzhioevaFormer Minister of Education of the Republic of South Ossetia
Date of Birth: 23.08.1949
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Content:
Early Life and Education
Aлла Александровна (Алексеевна) Джиоева was born on 23 August 1949, in Tskhinvali, in the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. Her official patronymic is Alexandrovna, registered with this name in 2011 as a presidential candidate in South Ossetia. However, she has also been referred to as Alla Alekseevna Dzhioeva in the media and by acquaintances.
In 1966, Dzhioeva graduated from Tskhinvali School No. 5. From 1967 to 1974, she studied at the South Ossetian Pedagogical Institute (later the Alexander Tibilov South Ossetian State University), and subsequently at the philological faculty of the I.I. Mechnikov Odessa State University.
Career
After graduating from university in 1974, Dzhioeva worked at Secondary School No. 2 in Tskhinvali as a primary school teacher, Russian language and literature teacher, and from 2000-2002 as the school's principal.
In 2001, Dzhioeva acted as a trusted person for Eduard Kokoity in his bid for the presidency of South Ossetia. After Kokoity's victory in the December 2001 elections, defeating Stanislav Kochiev, the Speaker of the South Ossetian Parliament, in the second round, Dzhioeva joined the new government in February 2002 as Minister of General and Vocational Education for South Ossetia.
On 1 January 2004, Dzhioeva was also elected as chairman of the coordinating council of the new public organization "Union of Women of South Ossetia." Under Dzhioeva's leadership, the South Ossetian Ministry of Education actively collaborated with Russian educational institutions. In particular, teachers from South Ossetia regularly participated in professional development courses in Russia, and graduates of South Ossetian schools were allocated places in Russian universities.
Dzhioeva firmly rejected all proposals for cooperation with the Georgian authorities, and she also refused to accept humanitarian aid for South Ossetian schools from Georgia. "We cannot accept gifts from people who hold both a gift in one hand and a sword in the other," she declared.
Dzhioeva paid great attention to the teaching of the Ossetian language in schools in the republic. She supported the opening of several experimental classes where Ossetian was the language of instruction. At the same time, Dzhioeva described herself as someone "raised on Russian culture and history" and admitted that her Ossetian language skills were "quite modest."
One of Dzhioeva's initiatives was the introduction of the Unified State Examination (USE) in South Ossetia, which according to her would allow the region to "fit into the state exam system that is successfully implemented in Russia." However, the Federal Agency for Education of Russia stated in 2005 that this would not be possible since South Ossetia was not a subject of the Russian Federation.
In 2006, Dzhioeva criticized the USE, arguing that it "does not provide an opportunity for the disclosure of an individual's inner potential."
During her time in government, Dzhioeva often made political statements. At the First Congress of Compatriots of Russia Abroad in 2005, she called for the unification of North and South Ossetia, urging the Russian authorities to find "political, legal, and moral aspects so that the Ossetian people can breathe easily."
From 2006 onwards, Dzhioeva participated in the work of the joint intergovernmental working group of North and South Ossetia on the comprehensive integration of the two republics.
On 14 August 2007, Dzhioeva was awarded the title of Honored Teacher of the Russian Federation. On the same day, several other residents of South Ossetia were awarded Russian orders and medals. The Georgian authorities considered such actions by the Russian authorities to be contrary to international law, since they believed that the awarding of Georgian citizens should have been coordinated with the leadership of their country.
Criminal Case
On 4 February 2008, Dzhioeva was dismissed from her post as minister. On February 5, a criminal case was opened against her on charges of abuse of office, official forgery, fraud, and illegal entrepreneurial activity. Dzhioeva was suspected of having "entered into an illegal contract for the supply of textbooks to her store, and submitting false invoices to the accounting department of the Ministry of Education."
The prosecutor alleged that Dzhioeva purchased textbooks in Pyatigorsk with a 5 percent discount and sold them in South Ossetia without this discount, resulting in a profit for her of 22,000 rubles. Additionally, the ex-minister was accused of "charging parents of applicants entering Russian universities under quotas allocated by the Russian Ministry of Education for South Ossetia graduates a fee of 3,500 rubles."
On 28 March 2008, Dzhioeva was placed under house arrest, as she "obstructed the investigation and influenced the testimony of witnesses," according to a statement by the General Prosecutor's Office of South Ossetia. She remained under house arrest for approximately two years, until the trial that commenced on 29 April 2010. The court found Dzhioeva guilty of exceeding her authority and fraud (acquitting her on two other charges) and sentenced her to two years and two months of suspended imprisonment and a fine of 120,000 rubles.
Dzhioeva, disagreeing with the court's decision, filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of South Ossetia, however, no information on the outcome of the appeal was found in the media (editor's note). Dzhioeva herself maintained from the outset that the proceedings were political, not criminal.
She argued that she had been removed from her post and subjected to criminal prosecution for publicly criticizing Eduard Kokoity and his course of action. The ex-minister pointed to a number of serious violations committed during the examination of her case. In particular, no defense witnesses were allowed to testify before the trial. Of the 18 individuals who were declared victims
