Georgian Prosecutor's Office accuses former prison administration of murdering espionage suspect

The Georgian Prosecutor's Office accused the administration of the Gldani Prison No. 8 of the murder of Sergo Tetradze, the former officer of the Ministry of Defence, who was arrested in 2011 on suspicion of espionage and who, according to the original version of investigators, died as a result of heart disease. In the case of the death of Sergo Tetradze, four persons are under arrest, and Alexander Mukhadze, the former prison director, will be brought to justice. This was reported by Archil Kbilashvili, Chief Prosecutor.

On September 17, 2011, Sergo Tetradze was arrested by law enforcement agencies of Georgia on charges of espionage, and on September 19, 2011, he was sentenced to preventive detention. On September 23, 2011, being in a solitary ward, Sergo Tetradze felt bad, and a doctor was called for him, who found the prisoner unconscious. Despite resuscitative measures Sego Tetradze died without regaining consciousness. The expert report stated that he died because of cardiovascular inefficiency and coronary heart disease. According to the investigators, bruises, haematomas and a wound, found on the body of the deceased man, were the result of injuries got prior to his arrest. On November 14, 2012, the Prosecutor's Office resumed the investigation into the death of the prisoner and revealed that all the earlier conclusions were incorrect, the "Georgia Online" reports with reference to Archil Kbilashvili.

The investigation is carried out by the Anticorruption Department of the Chief Prosecutor's Office. The criminal case has been instituted on the basis of complaint, filed by a former staff member of the Department of Corrections about the abuse of power, committed by Alexander Mukhadze, ex-Director of the Gldani Prison No. 8, and prison personnel. The criminal case was joined to that of the death of Sergo Tetradze that was closed on December 31, 2011, because of the lack of evidence, the Prosecutor stated.

As a result of the interrogation of witnesses and examination of documents, it was revealed that "all data and orders of the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia on the death of Sergo Tetradze, issued in 2011, were false and untrue," Archil Kbilashvili said.

According to him, being one of the witnesses, Alexi Terashvili, a former staff member of the Gldani Prison No. 8, stated that he and prisoner Sisauri beat Sego Tetradze by order of Oleg Patsatsiya, Chief of the prison regime, and Viktor Kacheishvili, Chief of prison security. "They beat him for about 20 minutes, and after, in a group, with particular cruelty, they committed violence, inhuman and degrading treatment, torture, and as a result of that, the prisoner lost consciousness and died in half an hour," Archil Kbilashvili said.

According to the investigators, "the participants of the incident hidden the crime and gave false testimonies, and the expert report was incomplete and superficial." "In that criminal case, Sisauri, the direct perpetrator of the crime, was detained, and Kacheishivili, Patsatsiya, and Terashvili are already in custody," the Chief Prosecutor stated.

Kacheishvili, Patsatsiya, and Terashvili were arrested after the publication of video records of torture of prisoners in the Gldani Prison No. 8 in September 2012. According to the Prosecutor, Alexander Mukhadze is hiding from the investigators, the "News-Georgia" reports.