The mother of inmate Giorgi Davitadze, who reported sexual violence by prison escorts, asserts that the video released by the Special Penitentiary Service of Georgia does not fully reflect what took place.
“Naturally, this is not the complete recording; many fragments are missing… The footage was taken from only one angle, and what was disadvantageous to them, they, of course, did not post. The part where it is clearly visible what Kvaratskhelia [the guard] is doing with his hands… I don’t want to repeat it, it makes my heart ache.
For them, this is a way to commit an outrage, to trample on dignity. They think they have stripped Giorgi of his honor, but they won’t get their way!”, stated Irma Davitadze.
In an interview with IPN, the woman noted that the video recordings provided to her for review captured both the act of violence and the facts disclosed by the inmate himself.
“The materials shown to me by the prosecutor’s office contained five files. My son was taken out of his cell and led for about 20 minutes through some sort of catacombs into a semi-basement room. Apparently, they have a special room there where prisoners are taken for retribution.
He was escorted by nine people; I saw everything with my own eyes: Giorgi in front under escort, nine people behind him, and another one in a white coat—absolutely certain he was a doctor. Apparently, they understood that his health might deteriorate and did not want him to die right on their hands. I still hope that this doctor’s conscience will speak up, that he will speak out and tell what goes on in Penitentiary Facility No. 6—the violence, the inhuman treatment, the insults, and the degradation of human dignity that occur there.
Executioner Shota Trapaidze is an experienced torturer, groomed back during the era of the ‘Natsis’ (‘United National Movement’ [UNM]). The current authorities kept him in service and, by all appearances, hold him in high regard, but they will not succeed! In 2013, criminal proceedings were opened against him and he was suspended from his post, but then ‘Georgian Dream’ apparently reinstated him. As far as I know, he has family ties to high-ranking officials. It seems the current government needs the exact same executioners,” Davitadze stated.
According to her, a significant portion of the materials is missing from the video recording released by the penitentiary agency.
“Many parts are missing. There are five files in total: how Giorgi is brought in, how physical pressure is exerted on him, how he is pinned down, forcefully pushed onto a bunk, with ten people piling on top of him. The shot was taken from only one angle. Naturally, they cut out everything that incriminated them. It is clearly visible there what escort Kvaratskhelia is doing with his hands… I don’t want to repeat it, I feel sick. For them, this is violence, mockery; they think they have crushed Giorgi’s honor, but they have another thing coming! Give them a message from me: let them go and do this to their own mothers, children, and close relatives—let’s see how they like it!
Trapaidze must be brought to criminal justice immediately! Such a sadist must be urgently removed from office, because the other inmates there are in a horrifying position. I am certain the other prisoners will now be forced to write that everything is fine in the facility—Trapaidze has done this more than once, do not believe it. They are victims of pressure, abuse, and beatings. I know many parents who speak openly about what is happening in the Sixth Facility.
No one will convince me that in Trapaidze’s prison, where he is personally the director, the guards acted without orders. This is their established pattern: they receive direct instructions on whom to target and how to use force. Giorgi was told directly: ‘Word was sent from the outside: if you don’t stay quiet, you have only yourself to blame.’ And they apparently won’t stop until I personally go to their families and show them the consequences,” Davitadze said.
When asked whom specifically she suspects of orchestrating the persecution, the inmate’s mother stated that the instigator is police officer Shalva Peradze, who was responsible for her son currently serving a 17-year prison sentence.
“It is precisely because of him that my son is behind bars. All of this started because of my active protests. I categorically ceased supporting ‘Georgian Dream’—over the last four to five years they strayed from every charted course and began beating young people on the streets. I did not like any of this, I protested openly, and they did not forgive me for it.
Peradze is an active police officer serving in Tskneti, some lieutenant. He will never see a higher rank—he will end up in a cell right next to Giorgi. He staged a provocation against my son: he approached him in plainclothes; Giorgi did not know him at all and had never laid eyes on him. My son was standing at the gate talking to a friend when Peradze attacked him. It turned out he took issue with their conversation. Giorgi gave in to the provocation. Yes, my son committed an offense after that, but he did not kill anyone! They decided to make an example of us. At that moment, Shalva Peradze was out of uniform and off duty. Giorgi had no idea who was in front of him—a police officer or a ‘titushka’ [hired thug]. Peradze pulled an unregistered firearm and literally riddled the entire neighborhood with bullets. Giorgi used a weapon as well. I am not saying my son was entirely in the right, but if a person is already convicted and serving a sentence, no one has the right to subject him to such torture. I will not let anyone get away with this. Even if someone is a murderer, you have no right to treat them like cattle.
Shalva Peradze committed the exact same crime: he opened fire across the entire area using an unregistered weapon; a 70-year-old man was crawling on the asphalt, his wife was begging Peradze to stop—I will publish this footage. But they covered for him because he is a police officer and an operative sent by the SSG (State Security Service of Georgia). When I raised this issue and conducted all the forensic examinations proving that shots were fired from an illegal weapon, they simply hid the gun and shelved the case. But I will make them pull it back out! That is why he is enraged and ordered Giorgi’s torture—he hoped to silence us on the outside. His father was previously the head of Gldani Prison. Apparently, our wretched police and prison leadership have a code of silence. Shalva Peradze leveraged these connections to carry out reprisals against Giorgi with exceptional cruelty,” Davitadze claims.