Arevadze Says Pressure on Davitadze Continues, Service Denies

Politician and human rights defender Marika Arevadze visited inmate Giorgi Davitadze at Penitentiary Institution No. 6. According to her, pressure on Davitadze continues and provocative actions are being carried out against him.

Arevadze writes: "As Giorgi told me, two guards insulted him through the window of his cell. Giorgi responded verbally to this insult. They took away his television (apparently they do not want him to see the public support)."

The special penitentiary service categorically denies Davitadze's statement and has also released footage. According to the agency, when the convict was being transferred to a de-escalation cell, he was subjected to a search, to which Davitadze "categorically refused and began verbally insulting the institution's employees."

According to the agency's position, "only after this, in order to fulfill the duties assigned to them, the institution's employees forcibly searched the convict, which was carried out using an electrodetector on the body."

Davitadze's mother says that the circulated video material is not complete: she has seen 5 files, approximately up to 20 minutes of footage. The family demands that the recording be published in full and with sound.

The family also demands the dismissal of the Special Penitentiary Service's Director General Giorgi Pataridze and the director of Rustavi N6 Penitentiary Institution, Shota Trapaidze. At their request, they should leave the institution and those persons whom Davitadze accuses of alleged sexual violence should be held accountable.

On October 4, the penitentiary service stated that Giorgi Davitadze, in front of a prison employee, "demonstratively" swallowed a "small unidentified object" and refused to be transferred to a clinic.