Prisoner Is on Hunger-Strike in Batumi Jail # 3

Prisoner Giorgi Tskhoidze started a hunger-strike on March 1 2008 in Batumi Jail # 3. He is protesting the verdict passed on him.  Khelvachauri District Court found him guilty for rape and the illegal restriction of a person’s freedom. On February 29 Judge Temur Kakabadze completely satisfied the mediation of the State prosecutor Gela Makharadze and sentenced the accused to a ten-year term of imprisonment and fined the guilty 6 thousand GEL.

Attorney for the convicted Merab Varshanidze considers the court’s verdict as unfair. The Khelvachauri District Court did not satisfy the attorney’s motion challenging the qualification of the evidence. “Under the law, rape is a type of violence and an additional charge of the restriction of a person’s freedom, which was considered in the sentencing for a serious crime.”

The convicted Giorgi Tskhoidze has already petitioned Vasil Roinishvili, Prosecutor of the Adjara Autonomous Republic and Public Defender’s representatives in Batumi; he has informed them about his current protest action.

Maka Malakmadze, Batumi