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Justice to Be Implemented

October 16, 2012

Zurab Vardiashvili, Liberali

Megis Kardava and Aleksandre Mukhadze. Megis Kardava was known as right-hand of Bacho Akhalaia, former Minister of Interior. The ex-minister always tried to have Kardava close to him. In 2006, when Akhalaia was head of penitentiary department, Kardava was director of Tbilisi Prison # 7. In 2007, he was deputy head of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti regional MIA department. At the same time, Bacho Akhalaia’s father was prosecutor of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region. When Bacho Akhalaia became Defense Minister, Kardava occupied position of the head of military police; then he followed Akhalaia in the Ministry of Internal Affairs too.

After Interior Minister Bacho Akhalaia resigned, Megis Kardava returned to Zugdidi. Georgian Dream’s leader and majoritarian candidate in Zugdidi Irakli Alasania said Megis Kardava was unofficial head of Roland Akhalaia’s election HQ; the father of former minister was Alasania’s rival in the parliamentary elections.

Megis Kardava was mentioned in several reports of the Public Defender. 2008 report reads: “Torture, ineffective investigation of torture facts or declining investigation into those facts still remain a serious problem. Torture and illegal restriction of freedom of doctor Gocha Ekhvaia in the office of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti regional police department in January of 2008 was not investigated either. Head of regional police department Tengiz Gunava and his deputy Megis Kardava personally participated in Gocha Ekhvaia’s torture.”

Megis Kardava is mentioned in the case of Malkhaz Arkania.

According to the prisoner Arkania’s story, he was taken to Prison # 8 on May 19, 2011. “Next day I was taken to the director’s office where I met Megis Kardava. He said I had to write confession letter about participation in terrorist acts which had occurred in Zugdidi. I said I had no connection with those facts but he told two strangers to take me to quarantine cell. On the way downstairs they were beating me. Then they took me to a cell door and made me look into the window where I saw a man was raping another man inside the cell. The officers told me to watch it carefully and remember. They said unless I wrote confession letter, I would face similar problem.”

Arkania said he wrote testimony but Kardava did not like it and made him eat the paper up.

Kardava’s name was linked with the death of the intelligence colonel Sergo Tetradze too. Tetradze was arrested in his own house on September 17, 2011; on September 24 the family was notified that he had died of heart-attack in Gldani prison.

Former employee of the penitentiary system Vladimer Bedukadze, who had published video-footage on prisoners’ torture, blamed Kardava in the assassination of Tetradze and claimed his former colonel was killed by torture.

Bedukadze blamed Aleksandre Mukhadze in the torture of Tetradze together with Megis Kardava.

Aleksandre Mukhadze, [nickname “killer”] was head of Gldani jail hospital. Doctor Mukhadze started working in the penitentiary system together with Bacho Akhalaia in 2006.

On September 26, inmate of the Gldani Prison # 8 Oleg Ramishvili petitioned to the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association. He wrote that he implemented the orders of the prison administration. In the middle of September, at 10:30 pm, Aleksandre Mukhadze ordered him to learn from Sergo Tetradze with whom he had cooperated and whom he was providing with information.

Ramishvili wrote he was left in the cell where Tetradze was to be placed after one-hour “working with him.” From that cell he clearly saw the quarantine rooms and witnessed everything: “I saw Oleg Patsatsia and Aleko Mukhadze enter there. Patsatsia was holding a truncheon in the hand. As soon as they entered I heard insulting words and then they started physical oppression on Tetradze. Oleg Patsasia was ruthlessly beating him with truncheon and Aleko Mukhadze was beating whim with feasts; when Tetradze fell down he was kicking him. It lasted 15-20 minutes.”

According to the prisoner’s story, Tetradze fell down during beating and never stood up. Then they put him on the hand-barrow and took away. Next day, Mukhadze informed Ramishvili that Tetradze had heart attack and died; “I guessed that they had killed him,” the prisoner wrote.

Davit Chakua: After the videos about torture and rape of prisoners were aired, former Minister Khatuna Kalmakhelidze fired Davit Chakua from the position of the head of penitentiary department before her resignation.

In 2006, Chakua was head of operative division of the penitentiary department. In the same year, he occupied the position of the security service of the department. In 2007-2008 Chakua was deputy head of the penitentiary department and since 2009 he became the chairman.
 
According to Vladimer Bedukadze Chakua was Bacho Akhalaia’s protégé. He was very devoted to the National Movement – even donated 9 300 lari to the former ruling party. However, as their spokesperson Chiora Taktakishvili said, after Chakua was fired, the party returned the donated money to him. Besides that, former head of penitentiary department owns honor award too.

On September 24, prevention group visited hunger-striker inmates of Rustavi Prison # 6. The prisoners requested punishment of former personnel of the penitentiary department including the former chairman of the department Davit Chakua.

Vazha Tskhvediani was director of Gldani jail hospital. He was also blamed in beating prisoners. Former prisoner Aleksandre Useov said in July of 2010 head of regime Aleksandre Tolordava, head of security service Giorgi Avsanjishvili and Vazha Tskhvediani beat him together as a result of what his gut burst; he said he was tortured according to Davit Chakua’s order. Osoev recalled that in 2010 when he was in the intensive therapy department, a person sick with peritonitis was delivered there; he had his gut perforated. “He had not written confess statement. The director Vazha Tskhvediani came and warned surgeon – if you operate him, you will lose a job. In half an hour the prisoner died.”

“Vazha Tskhvediani was beating me with truncheon; they brought “Somekha” to rape me; he has ten years term and implements orders of prison administration; the security service chief officer – 24-year-old Anjaparidze was video-recording this fact. I fainted and it saved me from raping,” it is an extract from the prisoner’s explanation letter of December 29, 2011. He is still in Jail Hospital # 18 and has epilepsy.

Giorgi Avsajanishvili. In the stories of lawyers, which were reflected in the reports of the Public Defender, in the explanation letters of prisoners or their letters sent from prisons the former head of Gldani prison security service Giorgi Avsanjishvili was most frequently mentioned.

Prisoner Giorgi Okropiridze requested meeting with doctor but several people threw him down to the concrete floor and beat him. “They were slapping me in the face, periodically poured cold water from buckets to degrade me. At that moment Giorgi Avsanjishvili rushed into the cell, started shouting and insulting me; he started to unbound my belt and threatened with rape; I told them it was shameful and urged to call doctor because I was feeling bad. Avsanjishvili turned to me and said nothing would save me and repeatedly threatened with rape; other officers took him out; then they put me on the wet floor with my abdomen downside and I spent 30-40 minutes in this position.”

When speaking with Public Defender’s representatives, Prisoner Kakhaber B told the same story. “According to the prisoner’s story, on November 7, 2011, at night, he was taken to prison jail # 18 from Prison # 17 for acute pain in the kidney and was placed in the cell t-9. According to the prisoner, in the evening of November 28, 2011 he had unbearable pains and requested meeting with doctor. In reply to his requests, the employees of the jail hospital # 18 took him to the morgue downstairs and ruthlessly beat him. Besides that, one of the employees Giorgi Avsanjishvili threatened him with raping. Kakhaber B. noted that he was lying on the morgue floor with his abdomen down during 30-40 minutes,” the 2011 report of the Public Defender reads.

Later, Avsanjishvili compelled the prisoner to write explanation letter under threat and insulting that he had personally injured himself and he had no complaints against administration members of the jail hospital # 18.

As we have noted above, investigation has not yet launched against aforementioned people yet. With the initiative of the president and penitentiary minister an independent investigative commission shall be established which will study human rights violation facts in the penitentiary system. However, nongovernmental organizations believe the commission shall be staffed with independent lawyers and psychologists instead trustees of the president and minister.

18 suspects have been arrested so far; among them are deputy chairman of the penitentiary department and two directors of prisons.

“It is not enough at all,” member of the Human Rights Committee of the Parliament of Georgia Dimitry Lortkipanidze told Liberali. He recalled that only “few MPs listened” to the reports of Public Defender. He had been raising responsibility of the former minister of penitentiary for the last three years and recommended corresponding institutions to investigate torture facts and to adequately react on them. “However, we only heard demagogic replies from them.”

Where was prosecutor’s office until now?- president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili asked minister of Justice Zurab Adeishvili On September 19.

“Similar incidents can occur any time but not in similar scale and for so long time?” he continued.

Will the chief prosecutor’s office of Georgia take responsibility for the incidents? and why investigation is not launched against the people, who are blamed in the torture by many prisoners? Liberali tried to get answers to these questions from the Ministry of Justice but it was impossible to get in touch with the press-center.

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