Former justice minister, ex penitentiary head sentenced to 4+ yrs for inhumane treatment of inmates in 2012 prison abuse scandal

Zurab Adeishvili left Georgia following the October elections 2013 and he has been abroad since then. Adeishvili is wanted by Georgia, and requested termination of Georgian citizenship in May 2021. David Chakua was handed over to Georgia by Germany in 2020. Both ex officials have been found guilty  in other high-profile cases. Photo: IPN.

Agenda.ge, 08 Jul 2021 - 19:00, Tbilisi,Georgia

Former Justice Minister Zurab Adeishvili and ex-head of the Penitentiary Department Davit Chakua have been sentenced to four and a half years in prison for the inhumane treatment of prisoners, abuse of power and falsifying evidence in the high-profile case of the ‘prison abuse scandal’ which broke out in September of 2012. 

In addition to imprisonment, Adeishvili and Chakua were fined GEL 5,000 and deprived of the right to serve in the public sector.

Adeishvili left Georgia following the October elections 2013 and he has been abroad since then. Adeishvili is wanted by Georgia, and requested termination of Georgian citizenship in May 2021. 

David Chakua was handed over to Georgia by Germany in 2020. Both ex officials have been found guilty in other high-profile cases.  

‘Prison scandal’ of 2012 

The ‘prison scandal’ of 2012 played an important role in the outcome of the October parliamentary elections in 2013, when the  Georgian Dream came to power and Saakashvili’s party was ousted. 

Just two weeks before election day, Georgian TV aired shocking graphic video footage of inmates being abused, confirming long-standing allegations about violence in prisons. 

A large-scale, spontaneous protest rally gathered in downtown Tbilisi on September 18, 2012, after two Tbilisi-based TV stations, Maestro and Channel 9, aired, among other videos, undated graphic images showing prison guards raping inmates with a baton as the latter weeped and begged guards to stop.

Several hours before those images were aired, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that three officials of prison No. 8 had been arrested for inhumane treatment of inmates. 

The ministry itself released a video recording showing prison guards beating an inmate in prison, claiming the prison guards had been bribed by the opposition Georgian Dream coalition to record it on video for the purpose of discrediting the authorities ahead of the elections.

What does the investigation say?  

  • In early September 2012, under United National Movement leadership, then-Minister of Justice Zurab Adeishvili was informed that video footage of the beating and torturing of prisoners in No. 8 prison had been recorded and could be released on TV in a European country
  • On September 17, 2012, Adeishvili met with the First Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Georgia and Head of the Penitentiary Department Davit Chakua. They planned to humiliate, beat and verbally assault prisoners of No. 8 prison and shoot the scenes with the assistance of the prison employees. Also they planned to falsify the release of the information in such a way that the violence against prisoners would be blamed on the Georgian Dream political party.
  • On September 18, 2012, after the implementation of the planned scenario, false information was provided to the public via the press office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, claiming the prisoners had been physically abused on the order of the Georgian Dream party