Human Rights Center Requests Investigation into Physical Assault of a Citizen in the Police Office

On August 26, at 12:30 pm, Human Rights Center will hold press-conference about physical assault of a citizen by police officers in the Vake Saburtalo district police unit # 2; the press-conference will take place in the Prime Time press-club.

On August 14, about 1:00 am, Giorgi Tsomaia applied to the police unit # 2 located in Vazha-Pshavela Avenue close to his home and asked police officer on duty to return his cell-phone which police had seized from him during previous imprisonment. 

Based on the Tbilisi City Court’s judgment, police had to return seized personal belongings to Giorgi Tsomaia upon release from imprisonment and cell phone was among them; however, despite many attempts from Tsomaia’s mother – Marina Tsomaia, police was not going to return the personal belongings which police unit # 7 had seized from her son.

Giorgi Tsomaia clarified that senior police officer at the police unit # 2 called him “greenhorn” and rudely asked why he had applied to the police during night hours. After Tsomaia clarified that since police worked for the safety of citizens during 24 hours and he had right to apply to them at night; in reply to that the senior police officer took him into the room and about eleven persons (supposedly they were all police officers) ruthlessly beat Tsomaia. Tsomaia said they beat him in the chest, head and belly; they degraded and sputtered him. 

On August 14, at 2:05 am police officers arrested Giorgi Tsomaia as an accused person and placed in the temporary detention setting. The latter did not accept Giorgi Tsomaia before police officers had provided Medical Document # 100 on the detainee’s health conditions fearing he could die as a result of grave injuries.

On August 15 Giorgi Tsomaia was accused of the assault on police officer when the latter was implementing his duties. On August 16 Tbilisi City Court sentenced him to pre-trial detention. The detainee is in Gldani Prison # 8 now.

Human Rights Center is concerned with the physical assault of the citizen in the office of Vake Saburtalo district Police Unit # 2 and calls on the MIA and prosecutor’s office to immediately study the case and punish every officer, who participated in the physical assault of Giorgi Tsomaia.