Georgia’s Special Investigative Service Head says 153 individuals charged by body since 2022

Koka Katsitadze, the Head of the Special Investigative Service of Georgia, on Friday said the body’s investigative actions had led to 153 individuals being charged with crimes since the Service’s founding in 2022.

Revealing crime statistics to members of the Georgian Parliament at a session of the Human Rights Protection and Civil Integration Committee, Katsitadze said 62 out of the 153 individuals were law enforcement officers who faced criminal charges “for ill-treatment and violence”.

Statistics revealed by Katsitadze said 69 individuals had been charged with “disclosure of confidentiality of personal information” and “offences against human rights and freedom”, while 16 had faced charges of “unlawful interference with journalists’ professional activities”.

Despite a significantly increased workload and few human resources, the Service responded to 2,514 reports in 10 months, and launched investigations into 420 criminal cases”, he told MPs.

Out of the 420 cases, 237 - or 56 percent - were related to possible mistreatment committed by law enforcement officers, 129 - 31 percent - to offences against human rights and freedoms, and 54 - 14 percent - were offences committed by law enforcement officers on material basis”, the SIS Head said.

Founded in March 2022 with an increased mandate, the SIS’s investigations include cases of violence, torture and ill-treatment committed by public officials.

The body also investigates crimes by individuals on charges of disclosure of personal information, unlawful interference with journalists’ professional activities and crimes against human rights and freedoms.