The television channel TV Pirveli has released an audio recording obtained from the Court of Appeals featuring inmate Giorgi Davitadze, in which he claims he was “raped by a prison guard.” According to the defendant, “about 10 accomplices were involved in the crime.”
“They took me down to the de-escalation room and raped me—with a finger, with a hand. I am speaking about this right here, in front of my family. Your Honor, the footage shows him making that motion near my buttocks. At the same time, he is lying to me, saying my pants are pulled down, but he had already inserted his finger. What worse could be done to a man? I was raped by 10 people—prison guards. Everything was captured on camera.
They do everything under the cameras; they position themselves so it won’t be seen, but they still can’t conceal it. After I demanded a forensic medical examination, I was subjected to such abuse that you can’t even imagine. I am telling a person that I was raped in the cell, that I tried to commit suicide, and the representative of the Public Defender’s Office just lowers their head. Looking right at me, they say: ‘Pause the footage.’ The way they scream—why isn’t audio recorded in the de-escalation room?—calling me ‘f***ed,’ a ‘fag,’ saying: ‘From this day on, you are degraded.’ I tried to commit suicide because what is it like to face the very same guards who raped you again?” Davitadze stated.
The Special Penitentiary Service of Georgia has already issued a special statement, “categorically denying” the inmate’s allegations and calling them “disinformation.” The agency maintains that “this is an absolute lie and a continuation of the campaign to discredit the penitentiary system initiated by Davitadze’s family.”
“At the same time, we note that, given the high public interest, we are prepared to release the relevant video recordings in accordance with the law, so that the public can personally review the footage of convict Davitadze’s placement in the de-escalation room and the duration of his stay there.
The Special Penitentiary Service states that any violence or degrading treatment by any staff member is unacceptable, and should such facts occur, an appropriate legal response will follow. However, as noted in the statement regarding Davitadze several days ago, these video materials were examined by both the investigators and a representative of the Public Defender, and no evidence of a crime was identified. Davitadze was subjected neither to sexual abuse nor to any form of violence whatsoever,” the statement reads.
Giorgi Davitadze, 36, is the son of Avtandil Davitadze, a former member of parliament from the Georgian Dream coalition. The family first addressed the media on September 21, stating that Davitadze had been subjected to physical and psychological abuse at Penitentiary Facility No. 6 in Rustavi since December.
His father claimed that in December 2025, his son was placed in a de-escalation room, where nine guards beat him. An investigation was launched, but it produced no results.
According to the family, they decided to speak out publicly after realizing the case was not being properly investigated. The relatives held Shota Trapaidze, the warden of Penitentiary Facility No. 6, responsible for what transpired.
On September 21, the family demanded their son’s transfer from Facility No. 6 to another institution, along with an investigation into the abuse that occurred in December 2025. On the same day, the Special Penitentiary Service issued a response confirming that Giorgi Davitadze was indeed placed in a de-escalation room on December 21, 2025, but dismissed the reports of degrading treatment as false.
According to the agency, the video recordings of his stay there were provided to the Prosecutor’s Office and the Public Defender’s Office in accordance with the law, based on a request dated December 29, 2025. Following an examination of the materials, the allegations of violence against the convict by penitentiary staff were not substantiated.