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Lockdown on “Deal” for Escaped Prisoners during Russian-Georgian War

November 25, 2008

Shorena Kakabadze, Kutaisi

The prisoners that escaped from prison during August war are now hunger striking in Kutaisi Prison #2. They demand that the investigation on their escape be fairly investigated. The prisoners have been hunger striking for 10 days already. However, after having met with the head of Public Control Group of Kutaisi Prison, # 2 they temporarily stopped their protest but out of their frustration they again renewed their protest because their demands were not being fulfilled.

A total of 152 convicts escaped from Khoni General and Strict Prison # 9 on August 12, 2008. Most of them faced additional charges based on Part II (escaping from a penitentiary institution, from prison, or from a prison guard), which is covered under Article 379 of the Criminal Code of Georgia. In addition, 27 prisoners face additional charges for obstructing and creating havoc in the work of a preliminary detention or penitentiary institutions, and that is covered under Article 378 of the Criminal Code of Georgia. Some are charged based on Part II of Article 378 of the Criminal Code of Georgia (preservation, carriage and usage of an illegal object in their temporary detention cell and/or the guardroom. The prisoners say that all charges are bogus and the investigation was incorrectly conducted.

“The prisoners told us that they fled because they were scared in because the Russian-Georgian war, especially since there was a military base nearby the Khoni Prison (the place where they were serving out their sentence during the August war). It was bombed, and military flares had been dropped. Family members of the prisoners also faced danger as a result of Russian bombs - the overall the situation was extremely tensed. The inmates were afraid that the prison would be hit as well, and it was only natural that they fled out of safety. The prisoners say that the investigators are demanding that they would cooperation with the investigation and to openly named the ring leader the escape that some of benefits would be afforded them,” says Madona Basiladze, head of West Georgia Regional Division of the Public Defender’s Office.

Nika Gvaramia, Minister of Justice of Georgia addressed the families of the fled prisoners on the day of escaped appeared on live air and requested that they somehow contact their relatives and advised them to turn themselves in to law enforcers on their own. Nika Gvaramia said if they did so they would not face heavy sentences for having escaped. It is now clear that this promise was not kept. One of the prisoners who surrendered on the third day of the escape faced a heavy sentence.

“Some prisoners say that they used the right to remain silent under the instructions of an investigator during their arrest. However, now they refuse to sign the testimony investigators wrote for,” says the representative of the West Georgia Regional Division of the Public Defender’s Office.

The prison break suspects and their family members have since accused the West Georgia Prosecutor’s Office in not holding fair and an unbiased investigation, and that the deal for prisoners to turn themselves in was broken.

“It is unfair when people who were arrested by the law enforcers and those who surrendered be punished in exactly the same way! Do you call that Georgian justice?! The prosecutor’s offices has misled the prisoners and tricked the prisoners into naming the ringleaders of the prison break. It is apparent the kind of court and prosecutor’s office we have, and these persons are the ones who are allowed to decide over the fate of people,” says an associate of one of the prisoners.

Even though prisoners and Prison Public Control Group have several demands such as to create a commission on how the investigation was actually held; that new investigation on the escape be opened and the earlier promises made to the prisoners for certain benefits be fulfilled. Despite this, plea bargain agreements have been already made with some prisoners in this matter.

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