Ramaz Pirtskhalava, the director of Penitentiary Establishment No. 8 in Tbilisi’s Gldani district, has been dismissed from his post.
He will be succeeded as head of the prison by Nodar Kinkladze, who until now served as director of Penitentiary Establishment No. 1 in Laituri, in the Guria region.
“These personnel decisions were made pursuant to an order issued by the Director General of the Special Penitentiary Service with the consent of the Minister of Justice of Georgia,” the agency said in an official statement.
The reshuffle in the penitentiary system follows the beating in a cell of underworld figure David Peikrishvili, who was transferred to the Vivamedi clinic on October 20. A day earlier, on October 19, he had also been taken to a medical facility, but was soon discharged.
According to Peikrishvili’s family and lawyer, he sustained physical injuries inflicted in the prison cell by several individuals, including other underworld figures—Vato Kipiani and Avtandil Bilanishvili (known by the moniker “Katsro”).
The Penitentiary Service initially denied the assault had taken place, until the night of October 20, when the Ministry of Justice released a statement confirming that “an investigation has been launched into the bodily harm caused to inmate David Peikrishvili based on information publicly circulated in the media.” Minister of Justice Paata Salia confirmed that unauthorized persons had indeed been placed in Peikrishvili’s cell, though he emphasized that all circumstances of the incident must be determined by the investigation.
On October 26, the Director General of the Penitentiary Service, Giorgi Pataridze, stepped down from his post. He was succeeded by Ramaz Tatarashvili, the former head of the Shida Kartli regional police department.
