Nine supporters of boarding school pupils in Ninotsminda detained

Law enforcers have detained the activists who demanded an efficient inquiry into reports of violence at a boarding school in Ninotsminda. Human rights defenders will demand in court to take all the children out of the boarding school, an activist of the NGO "Partnership for Human Rights", has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in April, Nino Lomdjariya, the Georgian Public Defender (Ombudsperson), stated that employees of her office were not allowed to monitor the Saint Nino Djavakheti boarding school for orphans located in the city of Ninotsminda, which operates under the Patriarchate of the Georgian Orthodox Church. On June 3, the Ombudsperson stated that several criminal cases were investigated in relation to violence against the school pupils. The brutal children punishment at the boarding school had been reported earlier, but authorities failed to react, although they should have suspended the school's license, human rights defenders have informed.

In connection with the events around the boarding school, activists held a rally in front of the prosecutor's office. They demanded an efficient inquiry into violence cases. As a result of a clash with law enforcers, Giga Makarashvili, an activist of the "Shame" movement was detained; he received a hand trauma. Then, eight more activists were detained.

A 19-year-old former pupil of the Ninotsminda boarding school said on the air of the "Rustavi-2" TV Company that he had spent 15 years there. Pupils were beaten up and humiliated, he said.