Inmates Heard Shouting Swearwords, Insults at Saakashvili

In various video footages shot from outside the Gldani prison facility, inmates are heard shouting swearwords and insults at Saakashvili who got transferred there in prison hospital this evening despite his own, his lawyers’ and doctor’s vocal opposition.

The Gldani prison facility houses criminal convicts, many of whom hold Saakashvili personally responsible for crackdown on criminal networks and mistreatment of prisoners during his tenure in 2004-2013.

For this reason, his supporters and lawyers considered that moving the former President, into second month of his hunger strike, to Gldani prison facility would subject him to severe psychological pressure and create risks of physical violence.

The Office of the Public Defender also warned against tranferring Saakashvili to Gldani prison facility which accommodates prisoners who have a conflict of interest with Saakashvili. The Public Defender noted that despite the prison administration’s readiness to “ensure the safety of any prisoner,” the establishment’s “infrastructure and environment fail to exclude the risk of verbal aggression and noise, verbal abuse, and psychological pressure by certain groups of prisoners” against the former President.

More to follow

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