Georgia’s Interior Ministry to Use Bracelets to Monitor Domestic Violence Offenders
By Tea Mariamidze
Friday, April 20
Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs is going to use electronic ankle bracelets to monitor domestic violence offenders and prevent repeated violations in the field.
The information was released by the head of the Department of Human Rights of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Londa Toloraia.
According to her, the Ministry of Internal Affairs together with the Government's Administration and the UN Women's Organization are working on the issue.
"I think the project of electronic ankle bracelets will be implemented by end of the year," Toloraia said.
She added the ankle bracelets will be used only for those persons who are at high risk or when there is a threat to life or health.
“The issue will be evaluated by a relevant risk assessment tool that will be implemented from next month," the head of the Department of Human Rights said.
The issue of domestic violence became active after a tragic case in central Tbilisi, when previously convicted man Vepkhia Bakradze, 45, killed his stepdaughter,25, in order to revenge his ex-wife.
As reported by the media, the young woman was stabbed in her throat several times in front of her two underage children, who recognized the murderer and told the police about his identity.
The man was detained the next day and faces imprisonment from 16 to 18 years. He had been convicted in 2015 as well for inflicting damage to his ex-wife, the mother of the killed woman. He was pardoned by the president in May 2017.
After the murder, the President has been slammed by the ruling Georgian Dream and also some opposition parties as well for pardoning Vepkhia Bakradze.
President's Parliamentary Secretary Ana Natsvlishvili says MIA needs to tighten punishment in the field, adding the work carried out by the ministry is inefficient.
“Unfortunately every year we hear the same rhetoric that the law will be tightened, and measures will be taken, but we face the same situation. Unfortunately, instead of recognizing a very serious system failure and investigating the causes of the system failure, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other competent agencies are wasting time," stressed Natsvlishvili.
