Minor injured in suicide attempt dies
Luka Siradze's family and lawyer said earlier that the boy suffered psychological pressure from law enforcers who wanted him to admit to the crime. Photo: Netgazeti.ge
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A 15-year-old minor who may have been led to a suicide attempt by psychological pressure at Tbilisi Didube-Chugureti police station over a week ago, has died at M. Iashvili Children’s Central Hospital today.
His family and lawyer said earlier that the boy suffered psychological pressure from law enforcers who wanted him to admit to the crime of damaging the property of one of the private school in Tbilisi and writing vulgar phrases on its walls.
The civic movement Sirtskhvilia (Shame) has made inscriptions at various places in Tbilisi in protest of the recent incident with the minor.
Interior Ministry confirmed that the minor had spent only “3-4 minutes alone” with one of the police officers before the beginning of the interrogation as the minor “had a conflict with his mother and the police officer tried to calm the situation”.
However, the Ministry excluded any psychological pressure from the officer, saying that the boy was interrogated twice “in the presence of his parents” at the above police station on December 10 and 11.
UNICEF Georgia (United Nations Children's Emergency Fund) has called on the authorities to ensure children’s rights in the juvenile justice system, responding to the suicide attempt of a 15-year-old minor due to alleged psychological pressure at Didube-Chugureti police station last week.
A 15-year-old minor who may have been led to a suicide attempt by psychological pressure at Tbilisi Didube-Chugureti police station last week, is in critical condition after surgery and doctors have him on assisted respiration, announced Edisher Magalashvili, a neurosurgeon at M. Iashvili Childrens Central Hospital.
The Georgian Interior Ministry has dismissed allegations by the family of a 15-year-old of allegedly applying psychological pressure at Tbilisi Didube-Chugureti police station last week, which may have led to a suicide attempt by the minor.
The Georgian parliament has approved Londa Toloraia, the former head of Human Rights Department of the Interior Ministry, as the country’s first state inspector to investigate possible crimes committed by law enforcers.
A female investigator Mariana Choloiani has been detained for placing psychological pressure leading to a suicide attempt of Luka Siradze, 15, who died at M. Iashvili Children’s Central Hospital earlier today.
The Georgian State Inspector’s Office, a newly created independent agency investigating alleged offences committed by law enforcers, has pointed at possible problems at a school, not only at a police station which could have pushed a 15-year-old minor to commit suicide last week. “Situations, which could not have been acceptable or desirable for a child have been revealed at a school. Such situations also took place at a police station,” head of the agency Londa Toloraia told the media.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has responded to the death of 15-year-old Luka Siradze, who jumped from the ninth floor of a building after being subjected to alleged psychological pressure at Didube police station in Tbilisi, saying that “we must make major changes to avoid such tragedies.”“The death of a 15-year-old boy is a big tragedy for the state. I share the hard moments with the family and wish them to stand strong in this very difficult time,” Zurabishvili wrote.
Didube-Chugureti police district investigator Mariana Choloiani, arrested in connection with the recent suicide of a 15-year-old minor, has been charged today for forcing him to plead guilty, says the Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office.
State Inspector Londa Toloraia, who is investigating causes behind the death of 15-year-old Luka Siradze, says that investigator Mariana Choloiani, who has been sent to pretrial detention, made threats to the minor that if he had not admitted to the crime his brother would have had problems.
Several individuals have given false testimony in the suicide case of minor Luka Siradze, Public Defender Nino Lomjaria said earlier today.