Prisoners Hunger Striking in Kutaisi Prison

More than 40 prisoners are participating in hunger strike in the Kutiais Prison #2. The prisoners say that their strike commenced on November 19, 2008. They demand that the blanket pardon covered Parts II and III of Article 260 (illegal production, purchase, preservation, transportation and selling of drugs), which is provided under the Criminal Code of Georgia. The prisoners say that they are drug addicts and the drugs that the police found during their arrest and search was either for their personal use or in some instances planted by the police. The drug sentenced prisoners think that dependence on narcotics is a disease and therefore they should be treated under the law as being ill and not as criminals. As a consequence of this they think that they should be set free from their sentence as they are suffering from an illness.

The representatives of West Georgian Regional Division of the Office of the Public Defender of Georgia met with the hunger strikers. They say that the striking prisoners’ health is in critical condition due to their lack of food. The prisoners say they will not stop their protest until their interests are taken into consideration by the Georgian government.

The strikers gave their appeal to the Public Defender’s representatives. They requested that their appeal was sent to the Georgian Patriarchate, foreign embassies to Georgia, international and domestic organizations as well as media outlets.

Shoreka Kakabadze, Kutaisi