Inmates of Penitentiary Establishment # 5 Might Renew Hunger-Strike

Salome Chkheidze, Kvemo Kartli

Inmates of the Women’s Prison # 5 stopped hunger-strike but claim unless their requirements are met, they will renew the protest. Female prisoners request to restore former director and deputy director of the establishment to their positions.

Convicted women called Human Rights Center from the Rustavi Prison # 5 and said they protested dismissal of the director Salome Janelidze and her deputy Nino Maisuradze with hunger-strike. In respond to their protest, prison administration locked cell door windows during three hours; switched off landline telephone in the establishment while prisoners could use it without any problem. Similar restrictions caused disorder in the prison; one inmate even injured herself.

“Director of our prison Salome Janelidze was fired several days ago and replaced her with Giorgi Sudadze. We started hunger-strike in protest and requested to restore Salome Janelidze to her old place. The new director locked our door windows for punishment and thus placed us in inhuman conditions. Their action caused disorder and noise in the establishment. We request immediate meeting with the representatives of Public Defender’s Office,” convicted Tamar Talikadze told humanrights.ge.

Convicted Tamar Basharadze said the new director Giorgi Sudadze started his activities very badly from the very first day.

“According to his instruction, my under-age child was scared during search and started crying. I think Sudadze breached child’s rights in this particular case. The old director always treated us and our visitors very well. She was informed about everybody’s problems,” the convicted woman said. 

Human Rights Center contacted deputy minister of corrections and legal aid Archil Talakvadze to get his comment about the issue. He said situation is stable in the women’s prison # 5.

“Medical monitoring group started monitoring of the prisoners’ conditions immediately after they went on strike. Currently, all of them stopped hunger-strike, except one person who has different request – revision of her verdict that is not within our competence. One prisoner injured herself, though she feels well now. The situation is calm in the establishment and representatives of the ombudsman and other NGOs have already visited them”, said the deputy minister.

Minister of Corrections and Legal Aid Sozar Subari also responded to the protest of 45 inmates of women’s prison # 5 and said that appointment and resignation of prison directors are within the competence of the Ministry and similar issues will not be resolved with hunger-strike. He said Salome Janelidze was not moved to any position yet. As for the question, whether the Minister is planning to visit the prisoners, he said he will act only according to his own decisions.

In addition to that, female prisoners protest their possible removal from prison # 5 to another establishment. They said several days before Janelidze’s was fired, she notified prisoners that ministry planned to move them to the prison # 12 that was unacceptable for them because they have good conditions in prison # 5.

“They brought booklets which described the conditions in the new establishment. We learned that several inmates will be placed in one cell, will have common toilets while here we have individual toilets and one or two inmates are placed in one cell. The main problem is that we have very good library here and as they said it is impossible to move it to another facility,” said one of the prisoners, who did not wish to publish her name. According to her, Janelidze had promised inmates to do her utmost to stop their removal to another facility. The prisoner doubts Janelidze and her deputy were fired because of this controversy.

Ministry of Penitentiary claims they have not yet made concrete decision on the removal of prisoners to another facility.