Parents of Inmates Hold Protest

Parents of Inmates Hold Protest

30.12.2005, “Media News” – Parents of prisoners held a protest in front of Tbilisi Jail №1. According to them, inmates within the prison are beaten, although neither parents nor lawyers are allowed to pay visits the prisoners. Some of the parents protested against the confiscation of the mobile phones from the inmates, because they state that inmates have thus been deprived of their only way of contact with their families.

Today, the parents raised new demand– to free prisoners who are imprisoned illegally, as they believe such a fate has befallen their children. The representatives of the Human Rights NGOs, lawyers, and members of Labor Party also participated in the protest.

The brother of the ex-head of the Chamber of Control, Tornike Molashvili, also attended the protest. He stated that his brother, Sulkhan Molashvili, was not beaten, but that he supported the other prisoners nonetheless.
Labor Party member Jondi Bagaturia handed the Prisoners Statement to the representatives of the media, human rights NGOs, international organizations, political parties, and diplomatic missions to Georgia. In this document, the prisoners stated that the hunger strike was forced by social problems and human rights violations within the prisons.

Following the prison protest, the participants of the protest moved from Jail to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia.