Mentally Disabled People Might Be Imprisoned Again

Mentally disabled Archil Surameli and Zurab Janezashvili might be sent to prison again. Both of them were bailed for 6-6 thousand lari according to Gori District Prosecutor, Kakha Muradashvili’s mediation. Those people were placed in prison until they pay the bail. Human Rights Center revealed the situation several weeks ago.

Pre-trial detention finishes on July 3.  The results of the dispensary expertise were ready six weeks ago; Surameli and Janezashvili were taking twenty-day-treatment at the Psychiatric Department of the National Bureau of L. Samkharadze Court within the Ministry of Justice.

The treatment will finish on June 27; the department should prepare conclusion on mental disability of the patients.

Davit Magradze, the head of the Psychiatric Department of the National Bureau, said in his conversation with the center that they have two weeks time to prepare the conclusion. Unless the conclusion is ready by June 27, the mentally disabled people will be taken to prison.

On July 3 the term for pre-trial detention expires. Officials from the Gori District Prosecutor’s Office stated that unless their office receives the conclusion on June 27, they would prepare bill of protocols and the case materials will be sent to the Gori District Court for further discussion.

“The point is that law enforcers spent four months on preparing the medical conclusion of mentally disabled detainees,” said Zaza Svianadze, a lawyer for Surameli.

The Prosecutor’ Office tries to write bill of protocols and get rid of the case. “The term of the pre-trail detention expires and we should have the bill ready by June 28 as it must be introduced to the court five days before the term expires.  In the case the conclusion is ready at the time the pre-trial detention finishes, we will discuss to drop the case under the resolution,” said Mari Loladze the prosecutor for the case.

Zurab Sadzaglishvili, Gori District Deputy Prosecutor said that the conclusion of the expertise should be ready by June 27; otherwise the verdict would not be passed on it.

“On June 27 the investigator will arrive in Tbilisi and demand the expertise conclusion from the hospital. If the document is not ready, the investigator would prepare warrant on it. Afterwards we will apply to the court with the bill of protocols and the case discussion will last in order not to break the term of the pre-trial detention,” said Sadzaglishvili.

Surameli’s lawyer thinks that the expertise was carried out late because it is easy to notice that the detainees are mentally disabled without any additional examinations. However, the young people were detained on March 3 and the expertise was carried out on April 5.

According to the Criminal Procedure Code, Article 667, “If it is proved that the accused got mentally disabled after having committed the crime or was mentally disabled during the crime, the court (judge) shall abolish previous prosecutions based on the mediations of the investigator or a prosecutor.”

Both detainees, Surameli and Janezashvili, have been receiving pension for many years for their disability. It is enough proof for the prosecutor to appoint the medical expertise within one month and not to place the detainees in the prison for four months.

Prosecutor’s Office does not want to drop the case against the mentally disabled people who they have bailed for 6-6 thousand lari and sent them to the prison until they paid the money. Kakha Muradashvili demanded the pre-trial detention and later he put intern prosecutor, Mari Loladze in charge of the famous case.

Thea Tedliashvili, Gori