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Georgia
676. By letter dated 16 September 2004, sent jointly with the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the Special Rapporteur notified the Government that he had received allegations concerning:
677. Giorgi Mshvenieradze, a 21-year-old election-observer and member of the Georgian Young Lawyers Association, Kutaisi Branch. On 2 November 2003, he was beaten and detained by Adjara Autonomous Republic police, when he alerted members of the election commission of an attempt of a local person, who later turned out to be a policeman in plain clothes, to stuff ballots at polling station number 23, Kobuleti district. On 5 November 2003, Giorgi Mshvenieradze was convicted and sentenced to three months’ imprisonment in Batumi Prison No. 3 on charges of "hooliganism", "infringing on the expression of the will of the electorate", and "committing a crime against a government official." He was released on 7 December 2003.
678. Vakhtang Komakhidze, a reporter for the programme 60 Minutes of the Rustavi-2 television station. On 5 March 2004, as he was driving to Batumi, Republic of Ajaria, he was stopped by transit police at a checkpoint. Unidentified men in black uniforms forced him out of his car and began to beat him, and confiscated his video camera, tapes and documents. The transit police did not prevent the beating. He was treated for serious injuries in a Batumi hospital. Vakhtang Komakhidze was investigating corruption by officials of the regional government.
679. By letter dated 5 October 2004, sent jointly with the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the Special Rapporteur notified the Government that he had received allegations concerning:
680. Diana Trapaidze, from Imedi television channel, Nestan Sheckhladze from Rustavi 2 television channel, and Tedo Jorbenadze, from the magazine Batumelebi. On 10 January 2004, police officers in Batumi assaulted them after they filmed the police ripping down posters of the Kmara movement. The three journalists were held for less than one hour and released after the intervention of a former Adjarian Member of Parliament and Interior Ministry Press Officer.
681. Mzia Amaglobeli and Eter Turadze, both from the magazine Batumelebi. On 11 January 2004, around 15 men dressed in black beat the journalists, who were covering a demonstration in support of the President. On 25 January 2004, the police again targeted them during a demonstration against the local government in Batumi. The police seized and destroyed their equipment.
682. Vakhtang Komakhidze (cited in a previously transmitted communication).
Urgent appeals
683. On 9 June 2004, the Special Rapporteur sent a joint urgent appeal with the
Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention regarding Gia
Lobzhanidze and Valeri Kurtanidze. According to the allegations received, on 22 April
2004, the two men were attacked by five or six armed men in Tbilisi at the entrance of the 5th
block of Digomi district, and taken to the police department of the Didube-Chugureti region.
The police kicked and beat them with the butts of their handguns in order to obtain
confessions in relation to a robbery of a flat. When they refused, Gia Lobzhanidze and Valeri
Kurtanidze were taken to the City Main Office of Internal Affairs, where they were subjected
to further torture. It is alleged that live wires were applied simultaneously to the toes of Gia
Lobzhanidze´s feet, which were drenched with water. His ears were connected to wires too. He
bit through his tongue and could not move it, speak properly or eat for several days. After he
lost consciousness he was reportedly revived by the policemen with spirits. Following this,
Gia Lobzhanidze, who is left-handed, was forced to write a confession with his right hand. He
was provided with no medical care. The court-appointed medical expert, who examined Gia
Lobzhanidze on 27 April 2004, concluded that the injuries he sustained were consistent with
his account. The report further indicated that the men had been injured by a solid and blunt
object. The trace of an electric wire was also detected near Valeri Kurtanidze’s ear. At present
Gia Lobzhanidze and Valeri Kurtanidze are serving three months of pre-detention in Prison
No. 5, and have expressed fear of further abuse.
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This report has been published by Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights on July 27, 2005.