The Interim Fact-Finding Commission on the Activities of the Regime and the Political Officials of the Regime of 2003-2012 discussed the facts of the violation of property rights and inhuman treatment.

Giorgi Zerekidze, a former juvenile inmate during the previous regime, provided detailed accounts of the inhumane treatment he endured during his incarceration.

According to his account, in 2006, at the age of 14, he engaged in a physical altercation with an individual, resulting in bodily harm being inflicted upon him. This incident prompted his father to take his son to the local police station, where Zerekidze was subsequently accused of intentional murder, aggravated robbery, and hooliganism. As a result, he was arrested. Ultimately, the Court of Appeals’ Order upheld the sentence, which was 5 years in duration. His family subsequently appealed the sentence to the Strasbourg Court. As Zerekidze noted, his parents were bound to release him in exchange for the withdrawal of the appeal from the Strasbourg Court.

According to his account, his parents departed for Strasbourg to retrieve the documents. Upon their arrival in Georgia, they were apprehended at the airport on charges of drug trafficking as law enforcement officers “discovered” substantial quantities of narcotic substances concealed within the luggage of his parents. As a result, his father was apprehended and sentenced to life imprisonment, while his mother was sentenced to five years of conditional custody.

As reported by Zerekidze, his father passed away in the N6 department of Rustavi Penitentiary after a year of sentence. The official cause of death was declared to be high voltage, but there are suspicions that his father may have been strangled.

Furthermore, shortly after his release, he was provoked to engage in a confrontation with his neighbor, resulting in his arrest for a second time. He was subsequently sentenced to eight years in prison. As he had mentioned, his legal representative had informed him that his surname was included on a “blacklist” of Zurab Adeishvili.

Zerekidze also provided comprehensive information regarding the dire conditions in the penitentiary departments. He asserted that the incarceration was so intolerable that he, under moral compulsion, inflicted self-harm, however, no medical assistance was provided to him.

The Commission convenes next sitting tomorrow, on April 3.