Police department head resigns after a lawyer is assaulted in his station
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Wednesday, November 11
The Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation into the physical abuse of lawyer Giorgi Mdinaradze by law enforcers.
Mdinaradze stated several days ago that he was beaten by police officers, as he told his defendant not to give evidence to the police.
"It was inhuman, degrading treatment, and it should be appropriately assessed by the investigation. With handcuffs on my wrists, I was being beaten up for about 5-10 minutes,” said Mdinaradze.
The Head of the Vake Saburtalo Police Department, Gocha Kasradze, has already left the post and will remain suspended from duty until the investigation is over.
Public Defender of Georgia Ucha Nanuashvili has already released a statement over Mdinaradze’s case.
A statement released by the Ombudsman reads: “I call on the Prosecutor’s Office and request an objective investigation over the case. The Public Defender emphasizes once again, as he has done with regards to other similar incidents, that it is contrary to the laws of Georgia when the offence allegedly committed by police officers is investigated by the same police agency. An investigation should be immediately launched and all relevant primary investigative procedures should be conducted by the Prosecutor's Office.”
Non-governmental Organizations, such as the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), Constitution Article 42, Humans Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) and many more also responded to the case in a joint statement.
“With regards to Giorgi Mdinaradze case, we call on the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia to do the following: ensure a timely investigation and finalize the investigation within a reasonable timeframe; conduct the investigation in a transparent manner and provide the public with the results of the investigation in a timely manner; use all legally acceptable measures in order to hold the relevant persons accountable; ensure the protection of the injured party and other possible witnesses,” reads the statement.
The NGOs also addressed the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
“We call on the Ministry of Internal Affairs to: suspend the authority of the Head of Vake-Saburtalo police department N5 and those employees of this department; issue an explanation as to how they intend to fight against the cases of excessive use of force by policemen,” states their address.
