Political Prisoners Emerge in Georgia Who will be the next?

Political Prisoners Emerge in Georgia:
Who will be the next?

Human torture in Georgia is the guarantee for establishing "democracy". Is Sulkhan Molashvili a private prisoner of President Saakashvili? Repressions Continue – Ex-chairman of the Chamber of Control has been tortured.

Torture and inhuman treatment of detainees, especially of political prisoners has already affirmed by experts.  Representatives of non-governmental organizations have started speaking openly about the torture of Sulkhan Molashvili, ex-chairman of the Chamber of Control. According to Molashvili. He was tortured with electric shock and lit cigarettes, the bruises of which are noticeable on the body of the former Chairman of the Chamber of Control even today. On July 9, Maia Nikolaishvili, an independent medical expert examined  Sulkhan Molashvili and confirmed the fact that he had been tortured. Official bodies have not taken interest in Molashvili’s bodily injuries. As the leader of ’’Former Political Prisoners for Human rights’’ -Nana Kakabadze declared, the ex-chairman of the Chamber of Control abstained from voicing the fact of his torture for a long time, because it would have no result, other than to urge on his physical liquidation. Also, he did not want his family to hear about this fact. According to Nana Kakabadze’s statement, Molashvili had important information regarding leaders, who are currently serving in  government, and this was the real reason of his detention. Non- governmental organizations consider Molashvili a political prisoner and are alarmed about the increasing number of human rights’ violations in Georgia. The leader of ’’Former Political Prisoners for Human Rights’’ – Nana Kakabadze was the first to reveal the torture of Sulkhan Molashvili, and later, on July 9, the above-mentioned fact was  confirmed by experts.

On April 24, 2004 Sulkhan Molashvili, the Ex-chairman of the Chamber of Control came to the General Prosecutor’s Office upon his own free will, after being informed that the government was going to detain him. He was taken to a pre-trial detention cell in Tbilisi’s Main Department of the Interior Ministry. According to Molashvili, on that very day he was tortured with electric shock and lit cigarettes, the bruises of which can still be observed on Molashvili’s body. He was also subject to psychological pressure.

Maia Nikoleishvili – The Independent Expert:
“I can neither assert or deny the facts of torture involving electric shock, as two and a half months have passed. Molashvili says that after being tortured with electric shock his torturers burnt his back with lit cigarettes that can clearly be seen on his body. He does not speak about the injuries on his feet, though the injuries are quite serious. In addition to that, he is very much depressed; and, the fact that he has bitten his nails points to his terrible emotional situation. Now there are not many traces of torture to be noticed on his body, but what can be seen is quite serious and is confirmed to be inflicted from torture.”

Molashvili continued denying the torture for two and a half months. Presumably, he hoped that if the information about his torture was not spread it would help him to stay alive in the place of detention and later to regain freedom.

As for the official charges against him Sulkhan Molashvili is charged with abuse of power and apportionment of 37,201 GEL bonus to serve his personal well being as Chairman of the Chamber of Control.  Actually no investigative measures with Molashvili’s personal participation have been taken since the day of his detention; athough, at first the Prosecutor’s Office demanded that if he wanted to be released he had to pay a certain amount of money (about 1 million USD). Later, they demanded he purchase a dacha  in Tsavkisi and then, “on his own accord,” hand it over to the state.  The dacha was announced to be Molashvili’s property  and shown  on TV at the time when he was detained. (In fact the owner of the house is quite a different person and Molashvili does not have any relation to him). On July 14, the Prosecutor’s Office accused Molashvili of misappropriation of 3 million GEL.

At the conference held in the office of “Former Political Prisoners for Human Rights,” Nana Kakabadze declared that due to visiting Molashvili and voicing undesirable information about his situation, the Deputy Head of #1 Jail was dismissed for allowing her to see the prisoner.  Furthermore, Molashvili himself was taken to #7 Jail on the very night (in the building of the Interior Ministry) and placed in a small, dark cell under unbearable circumstances. There is no water and not even a chair in the cell.

On July 7, Matthias Eorsh, the  Chairman of the COE Monitoring Council group visited Sulkhan Molashvili in jail, as demanded by NGOs. At the press-conference Matthias Eorsh spoke about illegal actions carried out against Molashvili, and other human rights issues. He admitted that such incomprehesible actions were the first such experience he had seen in his career.

Despite the involvement of such serious experts, the condition of Molashvili has only been slightly changed, meaning that the cell where he is placed now is being repaired. Officials are installing electric lighting there and it is said that water devices will also be installed. “But the cell is so small that placement of a person here is already torture, which is inadmissible according to international acts,” states Nana Kakabadze.

Valeri Grigalashvili, the Prosecutor of the city responded to the fact of Molashvili’s torture, and the Head of The Medical Department of The Justice Ministry, who is responsible for taking care of the prisoners’ health, expressed skepticism regarding the medical examination of Molashvili. He announced at the conference that a criminal case has been launched on the injuries to Molashvili and the investigation will establish the reason for the injuries (whether the injuries are self-induced, aimed at moving the prisoner to the jail hospital or not).

The president of Georgia in an interview with Inga Grigolia called all the defenders of Molashvili unscrupulous and dishonest (he said he knows that the public figures who signed the advocacy letter of Molashvili had taken bribes for that) and he promised the population that he would not release Molashvili until he paid the money. At the meeting with the representatives of non-governmental organizations (where the president invited only certain NGOs), the president made an assumption that Molashvili inflicted all the injuries himself.

At present illegal detention of the citizens, torture of the detainees and inhuman and degrading treatment towards them, have become an integral part of the work of law enforcement agencies. In the penitentiaries there can still be found such places that provide unbearable circumstances for detainees. The government which came into power with democratic slogans abolished the monitoring group at the Ministry of Justice, which was given the responsibility to visit the penitentiaries. So, all the ways of controlling the violations by the government and fighting against them have been eliminated. Human rights violations go on for uncertain periods of time. It is not beyond the scope of possibility that the notion of human rights in Georgia will remain only a myth.