Government of Georgia admits facts of torture in Ksani prison

The chairwoman of the NGO "Priority for Human Rights", Leah
Mukhashavria, has brought from Strasbourg the Georgian Government's
response to a request directed to the European Court of Human Rights
concerning an incident at Ksani penal institution No. 7, Trend reports.

"The Georgian government has acknowledged that a crime was committed
at the Ksani colony. The government of Georgia informed the European
Court that a criminal case and investigation is underway at the Ksani
colony. A medical certificate of health of one of the prisoners,
Archil Sakhvadze, is attached to the letter of the Government," said
Mukhashavria.

On the 19th of August at about 22:00, masked commandos brought
prisoners from their cells into a corridor, forced them to undress and
beat them severely. The same procedure was repeated the next night.
The prisoners were beaten because some of them sent complaints to the
Strasbourg court.

According to the prisoners, this punitive operation was led by the
former deputy chief of the colony, Levan Lezhava, and the former
chief, Gia Kokhreidze. They demanded the prisoners withdraw their
claims from Strasbourg.