Illegal Prisoner Released after 9 Months

Judge Nona Maisuradze has released 20-year-old David Badzgaradze from prison after 9 months of illegal detention. He was accused of robbing citizen Sopio Zurabashvili. Although there was not enough evidence for his arrest, he was imprisoned on the demand of Isani-Samgori district Prosecutor Nino Tsikhiseli.

The investigation proved that on the 16th of December, the date when the crime was committed, Badzgaradze was traveling by bus from Kutaisi to Tbilisi. The bus driver’s statement, as well as Badzgaradze’s phone records, proved that he could not have committed the crime.

It was also proved that the victim, Zurabishvili, gave false testimonies that caused the arrest of an innocent young man.  

Badzgaradze was employed in the Kojori special forces battalion and was involved in peacekeeping operations in Kosovo and Turkey. A couple of days before his arrest, he was married. Badzgaradze has a 9 month pregnant wife. The former illegal prisoner was glad; because of the judge’s fair decision he is able to see the birth of his child. Badzgaradze demands a case be launched against the prosecutor and eye-witnesses who gave false testimonies.

David Badzgaradze said: “I am glad that justice has been done and I will see the birth of my child! When you are guilty and imprisoned, you feel that you are paying for your mistake. But it is very hard to describe what illegal prisoners feel, who can do nothing to prove their innocence. I was in the prison, during the period of the riot. Nino Tsikhiseli came to visit me once and offered me a deal – say that you are guilty and they will give you 6 years. If you don’t do so, you will be imprisoned for 9 years. She told me the same thing in Jail #5”.

Badzgaradze’s lawyer, Tamar Abesadze, also demands the punishment of witnesses. According to her, the victim of the crime should be punished because of her false testimonies: “It is evident, that the victim gave false testimonies. The judge should punish her and give moral and physical compensation to Badzgaradze”.

The Ombudsman’s Office is also involved in this case. According to Sozar Subari, both the prosecutor and the witness should be punished. “When a person was illegally imprisoned for 9 months, he has a right to ask for moral compensation. The investigation should have discovered that he was on the bus from the beginning. The prosecutor and the witness, who gave false testimonies should also be punished,” said Sozar Subari to a journalist of the Human Rights Centre.

Subari thinks that the compensation should be paid by the state.
However, no such practice exists in Georgia, but international experience tells us that there are often such cases elsewhere and the state pays out big sums. Subari says: “A serious defect in our Judiciary is that we do not have such practices. If this practice is observed, the number of illegal prisoners will be reduced”.

Human Rights NGOs declare that cases of illegal imprisonment are quite common in Georgia.

Eka Gulua