Policeman Severely Beat Innocent Man

Twenty-eight-year-old Zviad Manasarovi, a resident of the Telavi District, claims that officers of the Internal Ministry’s Kakheti Department, Ilia Kirvalidze, Lomishvili, Samkharadze and Darchiashvili physically assaulted him. The detainee’s health condition is very poor and he demands to open a criminal case against the policemen.

On December 27 2006, a criminal case was opened against Manasarovi at the Internal Ministry’s Gurjaani Department after a woman named Arakeliani accused him of thievery. The woman insisted in her appeal that Manasarovi had stolen her coat, which included her mobile phone and money. Manasarovi’s lawyer claims that the accusation is fraudulent. “My client called her on a mobile phone and arranged a meeting with her at night. Later Manasarovi paid her fifty lari for fire wood. However, Arakeliani deceived the man and pursued another man at that night. As a result, the parties started quarrelling and Manasarovi grabbed Arakeliani’s coat quite by chance. Two days after the incident, the motiveless woman appealed against Manasarovi at the court and blamed him for thievery. The investigation was launched on the basis of her appeal,” said lawyer Vazha Varadashvili.

Gogi Pasikashvili, an investigator of the Gurjaani Police Department refused to comment on the incident. In private talks the investigator said that he visited Masarov’s house several times but no one was there. “In his absence we decided to accused Manasarov and the judge sentenced him to two-month pre-trial detention. On February 8, he was declared wanted,” said the investigator.

On February 9 2007, law enforcers detained Manasarov when he was plowing his friend’s plot in the neighboring village. “We stopped to take a rest and as soon as we approached the road, a car pulled down in front of us. They rushed out of the car and grabbed me. They hit me and man-handled me into the car. They drove me to Gurjaani. Initially Kirvalidze started to beat me, and then others joined him too. They were insulting and punching me all the way to the police stateion. They threatening me by saying unless I plead guilty for some other crimes they would keep me in the prison to the death. Naturally, I refused everything. Having arrived in Gurjaani they turned left at the maternity hospital. There are ruins nearby and they pulled me out of the car and continued to beat me in the open. They were looking around because they did not want anyone to notice them. I tried to shout but Kirvalidze hit me in the abdomen so much that I began to vomit. The beating intensified at the Gurjaani Police Station too. They said that unless I take responsibility for some other crimes they would beat me again. If I obeyed, many criminal cases would be closed and their bosses would be grateful to them. They claimed that my assistance would help me get out of detention soon. Then they offered me 100 GEL as a bribe and said that they would help me in the future too. I refused everything. After they became tired of beating me, they pushed me into the car and took me to the prison. I fainted in one of the villages. I had epileptic seizure. When I recovered I found myself lying on the road. They got scared and said that they had run the risk of having beaten a sick man. Currently, I remain very ill. I have terrible pains and injuries. I have extravasations,” said Manasarov who is in pre-trial detention.

According to the detainee he had an epileptic seizure when he was being transported to detention setting #5 from Gurjaani police station. “The policemen could have called for medical aid but they kicked him out of the car. Thus he recovered himself,” said Varadashvili. The lawyer said that the doctor did not examine him when he was taken to the detention facility. “The jail doctor followed the policemen’s orders.”

Manasarov did not mention the facts of harassment in his testimonies during the interrogation. The detainee said that he did not say anything because the policemen threatened him.  Representatives of the Internal Ministry’s Kakheti Department refused to comment on the situation. Shota Khizanishvili, the head of the Internal Ministry’s Administration said that the detainee never had any complaints and the accusations are fraudulent.

Lawyer Varadashvili applied to the Gurjaani District Prosecutor’s Office with mediation and demanded immediate medical examination of the detainee’s health. “The investigation gave wrong qualification to the incident because it was not a robbery at all. As for Zviad, he is in critical situation. He has epileptic seizures twice a day. His organs are injured and he has extravasations. There are wounds all over his body. I urge the human rights organizations and the Public Defender to take interest in this case before someone dies needlessly,” said the lawyer.

Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti