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Torture for Complaint Submitted to ECHR

February 14, 2012

Keti Ghvedashvili, Liberali

Giorgi Okropiridze who was charged with the offence of deliberate murder on March 17th of 2010 and sentenced with 13 years imprisonment addressed European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in April of 2011. On December 1st of 2011 Okropiridze was transferred to #18 medical department on the basis of directives sent from the ECHR. He was verbally abused by the employees of the department right when he was transferred.

“Aleksandre Tolordava started to verbally abuse me, started to swear on me and on the ECHR. The head of security service Giorgi Avsajanishvili started to swear on me as well,” – explanation note given to Ombudsman says.

“Mrs. Judge, please help me. I am threatened to be killed by Avsajanishvili and Tolordava… Please help me and do not send me to the same department,” – Giorgi Okropiridze addressed the judge on December 24th of 2011 at the trial.

According to Okropiridze, Avsajanishvili threatened to damage his spine and inflict other illnesses on him and said that the expertise would not be able to establish what happened. The Strasbourg Court was named to be the reason of these threats. He was beaten and placed in #18 cell with severely ill two prisoners.

However, the threats and beating did not end this way. Avsajanishvili and Tolordava physically and verbally threatened him almost every day and told him – “do not think that you can achieve anything through Strasbourg!”

Giorgi said that one of the nurses of the department Nana also abused him verbally: “She constantly yells on me and insults me.”

Okropiridze got sick with C hepatitis before his arrest. On December 21st he started to go through treatment but on December 22nd he refused to take medicine since it was possible to take it only after eating. It seems like Okropiridze blamed him for violating prison regime due to this reason. Tolordava entered his cell, physically and verbally abused him and then asked the person on duty to transfer him to the punishment cell: “He asked one of the prisoners to take mattress, pillow and chair out of the cell where I was supposed to be placed in,” – Giorgi writes.

The head of Social Service Zura Bulbulashvili stated to Okropiridze that he had to serve two month administrative sentence for violating prison regime: “He told me that the court was going to take the decision which would have justified the prison administration and everything would happen the way they wished,” – Giorgi states. According to him, Tolordava told him the same on the previous day.

Okropiridze states that on December 22nd, he threw up blood, but the doctor did not visit him until the next day.

According to Giorgi’s story, he constantly requested to meet his lawyer and representatives of Ombudsman in #18 department. He self inflicted injuries in the area of his neck and upper left hand to protest that his request was not satisfied. According to Giorgi, he received stitches after losing too much blood and his health state deteriorated sharply.

Okropiridze states that Avsajanishvili and Tolordava threatened to kill him. “I would like to state that I never tried to commit suicide and I am not going to do it ever,” – Giorgi states.

Okropiridze’s lawyers link his torture to the complaint sent to ECHR: “Georgian government was given time to answer our complaint and prison administration used this time to torture Giorgi and force him to withdraw his complaint,” – one of his lawyers Manana Kobakhidze states. According to her, these things happen often and mostly when there are obvious violations and the state is losing the case.

Ombudsman addressed the Office of Prosecutor with the proposal to start the preliminary investigation. However, the investigation started not on the fact of torture but the abuse of authority from the side of employees of the department.

On December 24th the Court passed administrative punishment of one-month imprisonment in the punishment cell and prohibited Giorgi to use the department store.

Giorgi’s lawyers and family consider that the imposing of administrative punishment is illegitimate. They submitted complaint to the court to abolish this decision.

On January 25th of 2012 judge Nino Kanchaveli did not find Giorgi Okropiridze’s complaint admissible at the trial held in Tbilisi City Court. According to her, Okropiridze can submit suit instead of complaint.

Giorgi’s lawyers, family and Ombudsman requested to transfer Giorgi to another department. According to Tsira Goderdzishvili, on January 26th Giorgi was transferred to #1 closed type of department and was told that if he does not withdraw his complaint from ECHR he would not be transferred to open type department.

Liberali addressed the Ministry of Penitentiary regarding the fact of Giorgi Okropiridze’s torture but we did not get an answer. The Ministry of Justice did not answer the calls either.

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