Georgia: Gldani prison staff suspected of abusing prisoners

In Georgia, policemen have detained - on charges of inhuman treatment of prisoners - three employees of the Gldani Penal Institution No. 8, one more supervisor has been put on the wanted list, the local Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) said today.

According to the MIA, Vladimir Bedukadze, an on duty operative inspector, has been declared wanted. Official charges have been presented to the three detainees - Levan Purtshvanidze, the head of the security division of the Gldani Penal Institution No. 8; Levan Pkhaladze, a division supervisor; and Boris Parulava, an inspector.

According to investigators, the suspects followed their predetermined plan and "inhumanly treated prisoners" and "videoed their actions." When Levan Purtshvanidze's study was searched, investigators confiscated those videos and 17,000 US dollars," the MIA reports.

According to the MIA, the money was paid to the prison bosses by the inmate of that very prison Tamaz Tamazashvili, who asked them to organize the filming and transfer videos to the customers, the "Georgia-Online" reports.

In October 2010, Tamazashvili was charged with illegal possession of firearms and sentenced by the Tbilisi City Court to 3.6 years in prison, the portal "News-Georgia" reports.

Earlier, the "Caucasian Knot" also reported that in May this year Zurab Delianidze, 39, died in the hospital of the Gldani prison. Officially, the prisoner, who was serving his six-year term for drug possession, died of a serious illness. However, his relatives had put this version into question, saying that the victim's body had traces of torture.