Wednesday, October 14, 2026

Kalmakhelidze orders more crowded prisons in Georgia

Prison minister Khatuna Kalmakhelidze orders Georgia's prisons to raise the limit on number of inmates, despite a warning from the country's ombudsman that overcrowding is causing serious problems.

TBILISI, DFWatch – Prisons in Georgia are to become more crowded, as the maximum limit on number of inmates is raised, and two prisons are closed down.

It’s the controversial Minister for Corrections and Legal Assistance, Khatuna Kalmakhelidze, who has ordered the

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Georgia's prison minister lied to get rid of protesters

Prison Minister Khatuna Kalmakhelidze displayed her deep hostility towards free media Friday.

TBILISI, DFWatch – A spokesperson for the prison minister in Georgia Friday lied about her whereabouts to divert a crowd of protesters who were angry over a dead prisoner.

A spokeswoman for prison minister Khatuna Kalmakhelidze, claimed that she was not in Tbilisi,

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Tbilisians protested suspicious prison death

A demonstration against another suspicous prison death met and merged with a demonstration for free media at Rustaveli metro station Thursday. (Photo: Mari Nikuradze.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – People gathered in front of parliament Thursday to protest against mistreatment of prisoners, spurred by the news of another death of a prisoner who bore signs of having been beaten.

Police reported that the prisoner died of a heart attack, but

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Ombudsman calls for reduced number of prisoners

Ombudsman Giorgi Tugushi raises the alarm about the situation in Georgia's prison system in his latest report to parliament. (Official photo.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – The Public Defender in Georgia believes the time has come to reduce the number of prisoners in the country.

The ombudsperson said this at a joint session of parliamentary committees to discuss his report about the human rights situation last year.

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Prisoner torture ignored, claims MP

TBILISI, DFWatch – Giorgi Tsagareishvili, chairman of the faction Unity for Justice and the member of the Free Democrats accuses the government of prisoner torture and demands that the Chief Prosecutor’s office investigates the torturing of a 22 year old prisoner. He told reporters at a press conference that the director and a security officer … Read more

The right to health care and Georgia’s penitentiary system

Despite the fact that the Ministry of Corrections, Probation and Legal Assistance declared the reform of the penitentiary health care as one of the priority directions and carried our measures in this area, health care in prisons still remains the Achilles’ heel of Georgia’s penitentiary system. The situation is made difficult by the disproportionate distribution … Read more