A Case That Might Cause Scandal Between the Ukraine and Georgia

Nona Salakaia

A yellow balloon, a polyethylene bag and 93.299 gram of white powder in it is the fatal substance that is kept as evidence against Bokhonko Oresto, a citizen of the Ukraine. The conclusion of the Ministry of Interior of Georgia states that the white powder was the narcotic substance Methadone. Apparently, the law enforcers withdrew the substance from the anal canal of Bokhonko. The process of the evidence-withdrawal was not attended by a witness. Even the suspect did not witness the process because he fainted from the pain. After he recovered he was shown the bag and it was explained to him that it was taken out of his anal canal.

Officers from the Samegrelo Zemo Svaneto regional department of the Ministry of Interior arrested 37-year-old Oresto Bokhonko at Tbilisi Airport on September 27, 2008. Tengiz Gunava, the head of the department, stated in his report that the suspect was detained based on information. According to the latter, Bokhonko was travelling to Georgia to deliver narcotic substance to Zaza Saminava, a resident of Georgia. The brother of the suspect stated that that Bokhonko really arrived in Georgia to visit Zaza Saminava who was his friend and Bokhonko had assisted Saminava to sell nuts. To express his gratitude the Georgian friend invited him to the wedding party of his relative. Bokhonko had accepted the invitation and came to Georgia because he wanted to see our country very much.

At the airport Bokhonko was compelled to sign the protocol on arrest and search even though they were drawn up in Georgian. The law enforcers explained to the detainee that it was a formal procedure and that it was not necessary to have witnesses. The search of the detainee was not successful because there were no drugs in the luggage of Bokhonko.  The law enforcers were determined to find narcotics on him and did not care about the rights of the detainee. If they had conducted the search according to the law, it would have taken a lot of time of the investigation team which had arrived from Samegrelo region to Tbilisi for that purpose. They asked Bokhonko where he was keeping the narcotics, but he claimed he had no drugs and requested them to report to the Embassy of the Ukraine in Georgia about his detention. Nobody complied with his request. In reply the law enforcers physically assaulted him.

The extract of the solicitation of the accused Bokhonko to Leila Shkubuliani, judge at Tbilisi City Court, states: “They (policemen) searched me and did not find anything suspicious on me. Afterwards they asked me to take off my clothes and they were recording the process by video-camera. And nearly ten policemen in the room were taking photos of me by their mobile phones. Consequently, the policemen did not do their duty but they laughed at me. Later, one policeman, who was introduced to me as the head of the investigation team-- his name was Kokhta--put on rubber gloves and made me bow with the help of other policemen. He searched my anal canal that ended with no results.” After that several policemen left the room. Bokhonko was standing in the room naked for 2 hours and the law enforcers who were still in the room were laughing at him. A short time later the policemen returned and started the search the anal canal of the detainee under force again. “They were torturing me and I fainted. When I recovered it was explained to me that they had withdrawn Methadone from my anal canal.”

According to the law, the anal canal of the suspect can be searched only by a specialist and law enforcers have no right to conduct such a search. The rights of the detainee were violated because instead of by a doctor the search was conducted by Kokhta Kodua, head of the police team.

After the narcotic substance was found in the body of Bokhonko, an ordinary police procedure started. The suspect was placed in the pre-trial detention setting in the Samegrelo region. The Health conditions of the beaten and tortured detainee worsened He was not provided with medical assistance. Bokhoko had bruises on his left hip; he had a terrible headache and felt dizzy. The attorneys requested a medical examination of Bokhonko, but the doctor in the detention setting, Rigvava, stated they could not examine the detainee because they did not have medical apparatus at that location. As for the external examination, nothing serious was detected. The administration of the prison stated that Bokhonko had written in the registration journal of the prison that he did not complain of health conditions at all. The only thing he mentioned in the registration journal was that the bag he was shown did not belong to him and was not taken out of his body during the search. Bokhonko made the remark in the Russian language; but in the Georgian translation, translator Kvaratskhelia added his version to the words of the detainee. He wrote that “the detainee does not have any complaints about physical assault during detention or afterwards. I attended external examination of the detainee and I confirm the statement by my signature.” It is interesting how the translator Kvaratskhelia concluded that the detainee had no complaints about physical assault while Bokhonko had not written anything about it.

Apparently the law enforcers missed one fact:  that detention of a foreign citizen shall be reported to the corresponding embassy within 5 hours. In Bokhonko’s case, the report to the Embassy of the Ukraine was five days later.

In his appeal to the Tbilisi City Court Bokhonko described in detail his being tortured and beaten and added that he can recognize the policemen who physically assaulted him.

The criminal case N 083080188 on Bokhonko is full of violations. The trial that started yesterday was postponed until May 7 because the detainee was not provided with the possibility of reading the report on his detention in his native language or in any language he understands. Lawyers for the Human Rights Centre also took up the case.