Nodar Chachua, a former journalist for the Georgian Public Broadcaster who was arrested on drug-related charges, has released a letter from prison alleging that pressure is being exerted on his family, particularly on his wife, who has also been detained. The journalist’s letter was published by the TV Pirveli channel.
According to Chachua, officers from the Central Criminal Police Department are demanding that he name specific individuals allegedly linked to the crime. The journalist asserts that some of them are his friends with whom he has no business ties whatsoever.
“For over a month, the Central Criminal Police has been holding my wife hostage. For exactly 42 days, unprecedented pressure has been exerted on my family. They are keeping my wife in captivity, despite having no evidence against her. The main purpose of holding her for 42 days is to put pressure on me.
The Central Criminal Police demands that I name individuals, some of whom are my friends with whom I have no business dealings; others are mere acquaintances I only greeted in passing, and with the rest, I have no connection at all.
Intimidation, threats, and physical abuse continued for nearly two hours at the moment of my arrest, right in my home, before the search had even begun. Two high-ranking department officials took part in this. I do not know their names and surnames, but if necessary, I would be able to identify both.
The individuals they demand I testify against, and the very case in which they are coercing me to confess, suggest that the department’s senior officials are not seeking to solve a crime using such Soviet-style methods at all, but are merely playing out a scenario to bolster their official standing. However, this scenario has failed. They have not obtained a single name from me.”
According to Chachua, unprecedented pressure is being applied to his wife: “Law enforcement officers are doing everything they can to extract a confession from Lalo and ‘justify’ her detention.”
“They are trying to force her to claim that she knew about those very 5 grams of an illicit substance seized during the search of my premises—now even that is enough for them. But they will fail here as well: in the 21st century, taking hostages cannot be ‘justified.’”
Nodar Chachua was detained on October 6 on charges of purchasing, possessing, and trafficking narcotics on an especially large scale. He faces up to 20 years in prison or a life sentence.
His wife, also a former journalist, has been arrested as well. She is charged with the purchase and possession of drugs.
