Communicated on 15 January 2015
FOURTH SECTION
Application no. 75969/14
Vakhtang MAISAIA
against Georgia
lodged on 26 November 2014
STATEMENT OF FACTS
1. The applicant, Mr Vakhtang Maisaia, is a Georgian national, who was born in 1972 and lives in Tbilisi. He is represented before the Court by Ms T. Avaliani, a lawyer practising in Tbilisi.
2. The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.
3. On 5 May 2009 the applicant was arrested on the suspicion of having committed an offence. He was placed in the detention facility of the Ministry of Interior (the so-called “Moduli” building).
4. Between 8 May 2009 and 13 January 2013 the applicant, being charged with and convicted of espionage, was placed first in the prison no. 8 establishment and then – in the prison no. 17 establishment.
5. On 25 August 2010 the Department of Investigation of the Ministry of Corrections and Legal Aid (“the ID”), based on the applicant’s complaint, opened an investigation (case no. 073100422) into the alleged act of beating of the applicant in the prison no. 8 establishment. The applicant as well as his cellmates and the prison staff were interrogated. Medical expertise of the applicant’s state of health was also conducted. The respective medical report available in the file reads that at the material time the applicant had multiple bruises and hematomas, including on his face and all over his body.
6. On 13 September 2010, in a special statement issued about the applicant’s case, Geneva-based World Organization against Torture expressed its concerns about the applicant’s safety. The statement reads that after denouncing the perpetrators of the alleged ill-treatment, the applicant reported about the threats from the prison staff that he would be subjected to more beatings; the prison staff allegedly also threatened him with “disappearance”.
7. On 20 October 2010 in his complaint addressed to the Chief Prosecutor the applicant reiterated the allegations of ill-treatment. He also requested to be given the victim status and be informed of all the investigative measures undertaken in relation to the criminal case opened by the ID.
8. January 2013 the applicant was released from prison under an amnesty law.
9. On 21 October 2014 he filed another complaint with the Office of the Chief Prosecutor requesting investigation of the acts of his ill-treatment both in the detention facility of the Ministry of Interior and the prison no. 8 establishment. He claimed that at these facilities he had been subjected to physical and psychological abuse on the part of the prison staff and high officials of the Ministry of Interior who participated in his ill-treatment, including during his late night interrogations. The applicant also claimed that his confession had been extracted as a result of the alleged ill-treatment.
10. Subsequent to the applicant’s additional complaint, the Prosecutor of Tbilisi opened another criminal case (no. 010118092) about the alleged acts of the applicant’s ill-treatment. The applicant was again interrogated as a witness. Several other former and current prisoners also came forward and gave testimonies about the applicant’s alleged ill-treatment in the prison no. 8 establishment.
11. On 19 August 2014, in response to her repeated enquires about the investigation of the alleged acts of the applicant’s ill-treatment, the Office of the Tbilisi Prosecutor wrote to the applicant’s lawyer that the investigation was still pending and that she and the applicant would be informed accordingly, should the grounds for granting the applicant the victim status arise.
COMPLAINT
12. The applicant complains under Article 3 of the Convention about his ill-treatment in the detention facility of the Ministry of Interior (so‑called “Moduli” building) as well as in the prison no. 8 establishment and the lack of effective investigation thereof.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
1. Has the applicant been subjected to ill-treatment, in breach of Article 3 of the Convention?
2. Have the domestic authorities fulfilled their obligations vis-à-vis the applicant with regard to the procedural limb of the prohibition of torture under Article 3 of the Convention (see paragraph 131 of Labita v. Italy [GC], no. 26772/95, ECHR 2000-IV)?
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