Penitentiary Service: Davitadze's Lawyer Given Back Records to Take Out of Laitura Prison

The Special Penitentiary Service is responding to a statement by Giorgi Davitadze's lawyer, Darejan Sulashvili. Sulashvili said that after a meeting with convicted prisoner Gela Isashvili at Laitura Penitentiary Establishment No. 1, they were not allowed to take out the records they had made. The service said that information about restrictions being imposed on taking out records does not correspond to the truth.

The penitentiary service explains that employees carried out a visual inspection of the record to be taken out of the facility without reading its contents, after which the record was returned to the lawyer.

The statement says: "In this regard, we clarify that, in accordance with the requirements of Article 115 of the Penitentiary Code, an accused/convicted person has the right to send and receive an unlimited number of letters in the manner established by Georgian legislation. The establishment shall ensure the delivery to the accused/convicted person of letters received in his or her name by the penitentiary establishment, as well as the sending of the accused/convicted person's letters to the addressee. In accordance with Part 6 of the same article, the correspondence of an accused/convicted person is inspected. The inspection includes a visual review of the correspondence without familiarizing oneself with its contents, while, in extreme cases, when there is a well-founded assumption that information may be disseminated that would threaten public order, public safety or the rights and freedoms of other persons, the relevant employee of the penitentiary establishment is authorized to familiarize himself with the contents of the correspondence and, if necessary, restrict its sending to the addressee."

In this case, the record to be taken out of the facility by lawyer Darejan Sulashvili was visually inspected by penitentiary staff without familiarizing themselves with its contents, after which the record was handed to the lawyer. Therefore, the information spread about the imposition of restrictions on the lawyer taking out records does not correspond to the truth, since, after the relevant procedures prescribed by legislation were completed, the lawyer was given the possibility to take the material out of the facility."

Lawyer Darejan Sulashvili had visited the Laitura prison to see the convicted man who claims to be the golden witness in the possible rape case of the prisoner Giorgi Davitadze. The reference is to Gela Isashvili.