tengiz-gunava-2012-12-02

Five policemen who detained Tengiz Gunava, a former Interior Ministry employee, were later fired. Many Georgians are now complaining about police violating procedural rules. (Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–A new report says a growing number of people are complaining about assaults and threats from the police.

The troubling statistic appears in the Georgian ombudsman’s annual report to parliament, which takes stock of the human rights situation in the preceding year.

Ombudsman Ucha Nanuashvili said Monday that the latest report, covering the year 2012, describes important problems in different areas.

According to the report, citizens increasingly complained to the ombudsman’s office about being attacked by police. The attacks happened both right after arriving at the police department and later while the persons were in detention.

The ombudsman notes that there was a case where representatives of the court, which is still staffed by members of the party associated with President Saakashvili which is now out of government, who reported that they were harassed by the police. The case concerns the secretary of one of the judges at Tbilisi City Court, and the incident took place on December 20, 2012. A policeman threatened him and demanded certain information.

The ombudsman’s report describes a few other specific cases indicating pressure by law enforcers.

The public defender describes other types of violations by law enforcers, and mentions the case of Tengiz Gunava as an example. Gunava is a former Interior Ministry employee who was detained twice on different charges. There have been reports about violations in the process of his detention.

According to the report, a judge, prosecutor and investigator violated procedural rules during the search of Gunava and his apartment. Specifically, he explains that there was no legal basis for ‘immediate search of apartment and personal search,’ while Georgian law is ‘exceptionally delicate’ when it comes to private property, ownership and personal life.