TBILISI, October 6 – A prisoner of Rustavi prison No. 6 who claims he was physically abused has begun a hunger strike as a sign of protest.
Giorgi Davitadze, who claims he was sexually abused in December 2025, swallowed three metal objects last weekend, and refuses medical treatment.
His mother, Irma Davitadze, said Monday that her son would refuse to receive treatment until prisoners who had shown solidarity with him were taken away from so-called ‘de-escalation’ rooms, used to isolate and monitor inmates considered at risk of harming themselves or others.
The Special Penitentiary Service disputed that account, and said the other prisoners were placed in ‘de-escalation’ cells for safety reasons, after each of them were involved in confrontations with prison staff; not because they supported Davitadze.
According to the service, one prisoner kicked a deputy prison director in the stomach on October 2, while two others physically attacked staff after returning from exercise on October 4. The agency released video footage which it said showed the incidents.
Justice Minister Paata Salia said prisoners are subject to inspection before being placed in a ‘de-escalation’ room and that Davitadze had resisted that procedure, requiring staff to use force. Salia argued that the number of officers present did not in itself demonstrate abuse.
Later Monday, Public Defender Levan Ioseliani provided new details, dating back to the beginning of the case. Ioseliani said Davitadze first contacted the Public Defender on December 26 and reported threats of rape, insults and other degrading treatment. The office interviewed him that same day, secured video from December 20-21 and later referred the case to prosecutors for investigation.
Ioseliani said Davitadze’s original account referred to a sexually degrading act, including an allegation that a hand had been put inside his trousers, but did not contain the more specific allegation of digital rape that Davitadze later made publicly in court.
The Public Defender said the footage his office reviewed did not visually confirm criminal violence of the kind Davitadze had described, while underlining that if there was conduct not established from the footage, it will remain a question for investigators.
The Penitentiary Service has denied that Davitadze was subjected to physical abuse of any kind.
