15:04, 7 February 2014

Thousand inmates of Gegut Prison in Georgia go on hunger strike

Today, 1000 prisoners, who serve their terms in the Gegut Prison located near the city of Kutaisi, went on hunger strike in protest against ill-treatment by the prison administration.

According to Sozar Subari, the Minister for Corrections of Georgia, the protest was organized by criminal bosses, who serve their terms in Gegut Prison.

"Recently, measures were taken right against this category of prisoners to exclude their privileged position in the prison. They dislike the measures and they forced other prisoners to go on hunger strike with them," Mr Subari said today as quoted by the "Interfax".

He added that he had been warned about the start of the action a few weeks ago; and he even sent a letter on the issue to the Ombudsman Ucha Nanuashvili.

Today, Georgy Labadze, a representative of the Ombudsman, has visited the prison and talked to one of the inmates, who told him about the abuse he had suffered.

The inmate's body has traces of violence, but the origin thereof should be established by the examination, the "Tbilisi Week" reports referring to Georgy Labadze.