Reason for Juvenile’s Detention - a Pram

Fifteen-year-old Giorgi has been detained for several days now. He arrested after taking a toy-pram from the neighbor’s house to entertain his eighteen-month-old brother. Giorgi, who takes care of his brothers and sisters, has no father and his mother is sick. Since he was detained four little children have been left without care.

On February 14 2007, officers from the Internal Ministry’s Gurjaani Department arrested Giorgi Khachishvili, born in 1991 in the village of Mukuzani. He was arrested after Nana Khachishvili’s, his neighbor called the police.

“I have been robbed several times. Somebody stole forks, jar covers and some dishes from my house, where nobody lives at present. One day I discovered that somebody had stolen a pram and then noticed that the neighbor’s child was playing with it. I became outraged. Finally I called the police,” said Khachishvili who is a teacher at the village public school.

“I have not stolen anything else from Nana Khachishvili’s house. My father is dead and I live with my mother and five sisters and brothers at home. I collect wood in the forest and earn our living by selling firewood. I know that I made a mistake for having taken a pram from that strange house and I regret it very much, but I have not stolen anything else from there, “said Giorgi Khachishvili.

The investigator, Giorgi Atanelishvili, found the juvenile guilty for having taken strange things. The Prosecutor’s Office also blamed him for the crime and sent him to pre-trial imprisonment with a bail of 7 000 GEL that should be paid to the budget within seven days. The boy will stay in detention until he is bailed out.

Giorgi Khachishvili has committed a grave crime. He is accused under the Criminal Code Article 177, Section II (a) and Section III (c) (robbery that resulted into serious damage). The victim said that she has lost many other things besides the pram. In order to prevent the accused from avoiding serious punishment, we requested that the court sentence him to pre-trial imprisonment. The judge accepted our request and he will be released for 7 thousand GEL that should be paid within seven days. If the amount in not paid, he will remain in pre-trial detention for two months. If the accused pays the bail, he will be released,” said deputy Prosecutor of Gurjaani District, Zurab Bikashvili.

Lawyer for the juvenile appealed against the Gurjaani Court verdict at the Appeal Court.

Representatives of the Human Rights Center think that the prosecutor and the court were too strict and unfair to the juvenile

“The detainee is a juvenile and is described positively. Even though he pleaded guilty, he did not realize that he was committing a crime. He admitted that he had taken the things to entertain his little brother. He did not try to hide the pram. The extreme poverty that the family is living in should be taken into consideration as well. In fact, the fifteen-year-kid is the only bread-winner for his mother and little sisters and brothers. The court should not have set the bail at 7 000 GEL. It means Khachishvili must be detained, because nobody will pay the money for him and neither has he had any valuable estate to sell to get the money. If the family leases out their house, it will be too difficult for them to pay the lease back, thus the little children will be forced onto the streets,” they said at the Human Rights Center’s Kakheti office.

Lawyer Lia Khuroshvili said that the situation for detainees has deteriorated since police supervision was abolished as a kind of criminal liability.

“Although there are some other ways of punishment, like personal guardianship, or placing a juvenile under police supervision, these methods are not implemented. The prosecutor draws its attention mainly to detention and bail. The bail is good way of punishment but if accused cannot afford the bail, he is doomed to imprisonment,” said Khuroshvili.

Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti