Criminal Case Is Launched Against Patrol Policemen

Criminal Case has been launched against the patrol policemen for the Internal Ministry’s Kakheti Department, Vakhtang Zatikashvili and Giorgi Naskidashvili on the fact of Igor Chamiashvili’s beating. The Internal Ministry’s Gurjaani Department is investigating the case.

Accordign to Bakur Abuladze, a prosecutor who observes the investigation, Igor Chamiashvili appealed to the Gurjaani District Prosecutor’s Office and stated that in October 2006 the patrol policeman physically assaulted him during their working hours.

“On October 21 2006 I was at my work in the warehouse of the wine factory in the village of Akhasheni in the Gurjaani District. I worked there as a watchman. In the evening I went out to fetch some water. Coming back I noticed the door to the watch room open. Two young men and two women were drinking alcohol inside. Initially the men asked me to leave them alone with the ladies and told me to find some room or a bed for them in the area. I refused but finally I obeyed their demand. I led one of them to the wine cellar and the second man remained my room. Having spent twenty minutes with the women, they went out. The men blamed me for having stolen a coat from their car that was stoning in the yard and beat me. The shorter man, who later turned out the patrol policeman Giorgi Naskidashvili, hit me straight in the eye. The taller man, who was also a patrol policeman, beat me with his legs and hands. Finally, they called the police and detained me,” said Chamiashvili in his testimony who is an accused now. He is blamed for having stolen Vakhtang Naskidashvili’s coat. Chamiashvili faces the bail or three-year imprisonment for the crime.

Zatikashvili and Naskidashvili called Chamiashvili’s accusations unreasonable. “The facts, he had mentioned in his testimony, are fraudulent. He had stolen the coat and was running. Chamiashvili fell down while he was running and injured himself,” said the policeman.

Chamiashvili, after he was placed in the preliminary detention setting of the Internal Ministry’s Gurjaani Department, was medically examined. “The accused had injuries when he was placed in the detention setting. The medical expert examined him for the reason,” said the officers from the detention setting.

According to the Medical Expert Kantroshvili, Chamiashvili had blue bruises on his left temple and wound with blood scab on the right corner of the forehead. The lower eyelid was swollen. “The injuries are made by hard, blunt thing and can be considered as light injuries. The injuries are of the same age as the victim stated in his testimony,” said the conclusion of the expertise. The expert also defines in the conclusion that “commission expertise should be carried out at the Service Office of the National Bureau’s Judicial-Medical Expertise in order to find out whether the injuries had resulted after a fall.” The abovementioned expertise has not been carried out yet. Moreover, Naskidashvili and Zatikashvili are still working at the patrol police department though there are some other people who blame them for having abused their power and harassed human rights.

Representatives of the Human Rights Center were informed at the Gurjaani District Prosecutor’s Office that although, criminal case was launched on the fact, the patrol inspectors will not be punished because the victim was not seriously injured.

The comments of the representatives of the Internal Ministry would have been interesting regarding the situation but everybody refused to comment on the fact there. Patrol policemen also denied speaking about the incident.

Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti