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Alarming Condition in Georgian Prisons

April 21, 2005

Alarming Condition in Georgian Prisons


Tbilisi.21.04.05.Media News. Public Defender of Georgia, Sozar Subar, has demanded the dismissal of the Chairman of Penitentiaries, Department of Justice Minister Shota Kopadze announced in his speech to the Georgian Parliament today.
As the Public Defender has stated in his annual report, the conditions in the prisons of Georgia are unbearable, and Kopadze is the person who should take responsibility for the existing problems.


According to Sozar Subar, cells of so called “lawful thieves” still exist in the prisons, and the prisoners still collect funds for their common usage.


Public defender has also called for the dismissal of the Supervisor of Prison № 1, Gela Kikilashvili, who himself, as Subar said, beat three prisoners last year.


The Public Defender has declared that the sum allotted for the food of one prisoner per month was 23 lari, which was considered for 6 000 prisoners. However, because of the far higher number of prisoners only 15 lari was actually spent on food for each prisoner, and the government spends only 1 lari per prisoner each month for medical treatment.


Evidence of prison detainees being beaten still exists. Last year, out of 2 700 detainees, 1 100 had bodily injuries. The Prosecutor’s Office does not react to such cases. These injuries are caused, as they say, from falling off of ladders or crashing into walls, etc. 


The Public Defender has touched on the problems which exist in the army as well. The funding of the army has been increased and the conditions for the soldiers is improved, but there problems still remain in relations between soldiers and their commanders, and there conflicts still erupt due to soldiers being from different parts of Georgia.

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