Tuesday, March 24, 2026

News

Crisis continues over prisoner abuse

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Protests continue in Georgia over the documentation of prisoner abuse; a problem known about for years, but denied by the government. Wednesday, it changed its line 180 degrees, and accepted responsibility. President Saakashvili said the prison reforms have been a complete failure, but the admission did not seem to be enough to calm people down. (IPN.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – Wednesday morning Georgia’s prison minister resigned after scandalous footage of prisoners torture was published in the media and through the internet.

Tens and hundreds of thousand have protested all over Georgia, demanding the resignation of the

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Underage prisoner sodomized by guards

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A new video shows an underage prisoner (under 18) being threatened with rape, and then sodomized by prison guards. (Screen grab.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – In a new video clip of prisoner torture in Georgia, an underage prisoner is shown being sodomized by prison guards.

The clip was aired today on the opposition channel TV9. It shows an underage prisoner (meaning under 18 years) being physically and

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Prisoner abuse in Georgia – Saakashvili's ticking time bomb

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A screenshot from one of the five videos showing prisoner abuse. Human rights groups have tried to raise the alarm about the abuse for years, but the government has brushed the problem under the carpet until today. (IPN.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – For the last 24 hours, the whole of Georgia has been concerned about five videos released by different sources that show physical and sexual abuse of prisoners.

People spontaneously took to the streets to show their disgust, and protests are still

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Saakashvili: 'Georgia's prison reforms a complete failure'

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President Mikheil Saakashvili says the reform of Georgia's prisons has been a total failure, after videos of prisoner abuse were aired on TV. The European Union as well as Norway has spent millions on improving conditions. (IPN.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian president admits that Georgia’s prison system is a complete failure and needs to be repaired.

Mikheil Saakashvili Wednesday instructed his prime minister to take responsibility for reforming the system and ensure the safety of

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Massive outcry over prisoner abuse videos

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Protesting continued Wednesday, after several videos were aired that showed serious maltreatment of prisoners. The government claims the videos were staged. (Photo: Mari Nikuradze.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – A series of protest rallies have erupted throughout the capital and large cities in Georgia, after shocking videos of prisoner abuse released by the interior ministry and aired on two opposition TV channels last night.

Some of the footage appeared

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Georgian “Abu Ghraib” causes public outrage in Tbilisi

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People gathered spontaneously outside the concert hall where President Saakashvili was, to show their disgust at the images of humiliating physical abuse in Georgia's prisons. The prison minister has said she will resign. (IPN.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – Four different videos showing physical and sexual abuse of prisoners in Georgian prisons has triggered a widespread public outrage and a demand for the prison minister to step down.

The videos were released on Tuesday by the Ministry of Internal

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Satellite dishes will not be distributed after all

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Maestro director Ilia Kikabidze says the government's offer was just a ruse to fool the international community into believing that it cares about freedom of expression. (DFWatch photo.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – Negotiations a TV company and the government about installing satellite receivers have failed.

The director of Maestro TV claims the government’s offer to negotiate about the distribution of the equipment was just a ruse, and that it never planned

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