The statement by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia regarding the footage broadcast by the Pirveli TV channel raises additional questions, according to the Democracy Research Institute (DRI). The television company released footage of violence inside a police station. The teaser for Nodar Meladze’s author program “Saturday Broadcast” states that security forces used these methods to beat confessions out of detainees. “The use of such cruel and illegal methods has become a common practice of the system,” the DRI claims.
“The Ministry of Internal Affairs released a statement claiming that this incident occurred 4 years ago – in 2022, and all those involved were detained in February 2026. Despite acknowledging the fact, the ministry does not specify the legal classification of the charges.
The footage clearly shows several police officers beating a citizen with extreme cruelty, targeting vital areas (mostly the head) to extract desired confessions. The torture and inhumane treatment continue for a certain period of time.
The ministry’s statement regarding the disturbing footage released on June 12 raises additional questions that must be answered immediately: what legal classification has the case been given, and what stage is the investigation at? Why did it take years to detain individuals who were not difficult to identify, given that the violence occurred within the police system? Why did the public learn about this from the media rather than from law enforcement agencies? How many other similar cases have been identified, besides those the public learns about from the media, and what response measures are being taken?
According to the organization, recent severe human rights violations in the country raise reasonable suspicions that such cruel and illegal methods have become a systemic practice.
The 2024 annual report of the Public Defender also mentions serious crimes committed by security forces—torture and inhumane treatment that occurred during the dispersal of protests in November–December 2024. Despite numerous public testimonies (including statements from victims) confirming that citizens were beaten on the face and head, as well as tortured in minibuses during detentions, the Prosecutor’s Office, following a journalistic investigation, pressed charges against only four current and former officers, and under a more lenient classification.
Against the backdrop of these facts, the awarding of state honors in January 2025 to 11 high-ranking Ministry of Internal Affairs officials, including individuals under international sanctions for human rights violations, “for their special contribution to strengthening law and order,” became particularly alarming.
The statement also mentions an incident on May 27 of this year, when a video emerged on social media from the city of Gori showing a group of law enforcement officers brutally beating a citizen. In this case, the Prosecutor’s Office also pressed charges of abuse of power involving violence, rather than torture.
According to the organization, a formal response to serious crimes, limited to detaining a few officers and pressing lighter charges, does not alleviate the severity of the crisis. Such an approach and selective response, especially in cases of violence, encourages the commission of serious crimes—torture and inhumane treatment become part of the system. Against this backdrop, a dangerous trend is emerging where such actions against citizens are used as a form of policing,” the statement says.
