Gldani prison scandal

The Gldani prison scandal was a political scandal in the country of Georgia involving the recorded abuse of inmates in the Georgian prison system. The videos detailed abuse similar to the Abu Ghraib scandal. The scandal was unique in Georgian history in that it was initially shared and discussed on social media, before the story began to appear on Georgia's largely pro-government television channels. Besides the images of stark physical abuse - which included the use of broomsticks and lit cigarettes - the videos displayed abused perceived as having implications related to homosexuality, which is a largely taboo subject in Georgia's ultra-conservative religious culture.

The scandal is widely viewed as a turning point in Georgia's post-Soviet evolution. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Georgia was world renowned for having an extraordinarily high level of crime. Much of Mikheil Saakashvili's popularity was due in large part to his government's reforming of Georgia's law enforcement agencies, which had previously been perceived as having been under the control of drug and contraband smuggling criminal networks. While Saakashvili's reforms dramatically reduce crime rates, it also resulted in large numbers of young men being incarcerated. This was a change from both the late Soviet and Shevardnadze eras, when criminals could easily bribe their way out of prison. The Gldani prison scandal is widely believed to have resulted in Saakashvili's party losing power and in subsequent efforts to reform portions of the criminal justice system.

On 18 September 2012, after days of rumors on social media, Georgian national TV channels began broadcasting several video recordings of torture and rape in Gldani Prison in the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi. The highly controversial video footage resulted in orchestrated rallies in cities such as Tbilisi, Batumi, Poti, Kutaisi and Gori. Upset by images of graphic prisoner abuse, protestors demanded justice and promised to continue their protests. Later that night Khatuna Kalmakhelidze fired David Chakua, the Chairman of the Penitentiary Department.^[1] Several days later, Kalmakhelidze herself resigned.

Background and History

Several persons suspected of inhumane treatment of prison inmates were detained and later convicted as a result of an investigation into the case.^[2]

Hours before the video was released, the Georgian Interior Ministry said on Tuesday afternoon that three officials of the Gldani prison were arrested for inhuman treatment of inmates. The ministry also released footage showing two prison guards beating an inmate in a cell. The Interior Ministry has claimed that the arrested prison officials abused inmates and made video records of it in exchange for money in a deal arranged by Tamaz Tamazashvili, an inmate who is serving his jail term in the same prison facility.^[3] Tamaz Tamazashvili is supported by the political party Georgian Dream, which grants him a senior position in the newly created government. They also assert that Tamaz is a political prisoner.

The video evidence of prison torture was leaked to TV channels by a former prison officer Vladimir Bedukadze, who was briefly wanted in connection with the abuse, but was eventually exempted from all criminal liability.^[4] In his interview to TV-9 Bedukadze claimed that torture of the inmates had been ordered by the Minister of the Interior Bacho Akhalaia and that the Minister of corrections and legal assistance Khatuna Kalmakhelidze was aware of acts of torture in various Georgian prisons.^[2] Khatuna Kalmakhelidze asked for resignation later the same day.

Bedukadze would later gain infamy in Georgia for affiliating himself with a Pro-Putin political party that ran a controversial television commercial in the lead up to the 2016 elections. ^[5]Bedukadze's affiliation with a pro-Kremlin political party would later draw his previous actions in leaking the videos into question.

Videos

Prisoners are shown being raped with broom handles and police batons.^[6]

The first video shows ten prison guards conducting physical and verbal abuse on prisoners.
In the second video a man is forced to take off his underpants and do what he was told. He is then insulted and spat upon; During the offence, an attacker makes references to him being a thief in law. In the last part of the video, the man is seen writing something under dictation.
In the third video an Armenian prisoner is shown fettered to a cell rod and cursing Georgian prison officers.^[7] In the same video a masked man is appealing to the torturers not to record a video of him. He is mocked, humiliated and possibly raped. The third part of the video shows a rear view of a man who is repeatedly asked if he was thief in law answers of which were all: "I am a thief in law!".
In the fourth video is shown youth detention center, where inmates were physically abused and forced to insult thief in laws under threat of being raped if they did not comply.

Reactions

Student with sign saying "Revolution of brooms".

Government reaction

Early the next day, president Mikheil Saakashvili made a special statement in which he condemned the actions and said that torturers "deserve the strictest punishment and they will spend many years in prison".^[2]

Saakashvili demanded a complete overhaul of the prison system and commanded Vano Merabishvili to immediately enter all prisons with patrol police. "There must be zero tolerance to any violations of human rights, because we are building a civilised and humane country, rather than discipline based on violence." - he said.^[8]

People's response

An orchestrated protest rally gathered around the Philharmonic Hall on September 18th, where the president was expected to arrive.

On the next day, protesters reconvened again outside the Philharmonic Hall and marched on Rustaveli Avenue towards the government’s office.^[9]

Student Protests

The news was met with a strong response from Georgian students. The protests drew a large number of students who protested the condition of the prison system and the inhuman treatment of prisoners shown in the video. Student groups declared that the scandal was not an isolated case and emphasized that this was the fault of the system, which needed to change. The absence of free, impartial media sources and freedom of expression was also a cause of the protests.

Following the scandal, student protest groups largely forgot about the scandal, and the issue was rarely discussed by the subsequent government.

References

External links

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