“Detained citizens are being treated inhumanely” (detentions of November 30 and December 1-2)

On November 28, the ruling team announced the decision to the public, saying that the Georgian Dream would suspend negotiations on EU membership until 2028. After the briefing, citizens began to protest. Large-scale rallies have been held in front of the parliament for the sixth day. Police forces are trying to disperse citizens using disproportionate force. Footage of representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs abusing people is circulating on social networks and in the media. Detained citizens, on the other hand, are talking about the inhuman treatment they were subjected to during their arrest and transfer to isolation rooms.

Non-governmental organizations claim that most of the detainees were beaten, and violence by law enforcement officers occurred both during the arrest and, in the period after the arrest, in parallel with the beatings, they spat on, cursed, and shouted at the detainees.

“They have bruises all over their bodies, and facial injuries – fractures of the nose and jaw. All those hospitalized in the clinic have concussions, multiple bruises and hematomas, and they have difficulty moving and speaking,” the legal aid network said in a statement.

Citizens say that everyone in the car where the police were taking the detainees was beaten, and that physical violence against them continued on the bus. Information spread on social media that protester Saba Kharaishvili was arrested between 01:00 and 02:00 on December 3 and claims to have been beaten in the car. He is hospitalized with a concussion, a fractured eye socket and a broken nose.

Radio Liberty producer Beka Beradze also recalls the episode of the arrest. According to him, the police officers’ mockery, beatings, and terror in the so-called black minibus lasted for about 40 minutes. “I was sitting closest to the doors of the minibus, which opened three times in total, and everyone who entered would punch me in the face. The last time I covered my face with my hand and they kicked me.”

Citizens say that everyone in the car where the police were taking the arrested people was beaten and that the physical violence against them continued on the minibus. Information spread on social networks that protester Saba Kharaishvili was arrested between 01:00 and 02:00 on December 3 and claims that he was beaten in the car. He is hospitalized with a concussion, a fractured eye socket and a broken nose.

Radio Liberty producer Beka Beradze also recalls the episode of the arrest. According to him, the police officers’ mockery, beatings and terror in the so-called black minibus lasted for about 40 minutes. “I was sitting closest to the doors of the minibus, which opened three times in total, and everyone who got in hit me in the face. The last time I covered my face with my hand and they kicked me.”

NGOs and detainees also say that when the police beat citizens, a man is watching them, monitoring the beating process so that someone does not get injured to the point of death. Protester Davit Janiashvili says that his beating continued from the moment he was arrested until he was taken to the detention center.

“They had drawn a precise line, how far I had to beat him, so that I would not have any injuries that would cause something to happen. He was a relatively elderly man, I remember moments like that when he told me not to hit him in the face anymore, hit him in the body and legs. They moved on to my legs and body, and my legs were in such a state that I can’t walk even now. I can’t stand up yet, my muscles are cramping. “I now have a broken head, broken teeth, sprained face and jaw joints, bruised ribs and back muscles,” Janiashvili says.

Detainee Giorgi Chutkerashvili also talks about a similar scene.

“They tried to break my hand, I feel like my hand is going to break somewhere, and at that moment the officer came in and told me not to do that and not to hit me in the head. I was hit in the head about a dozen times anyway. They kicked me, kicked me, punched me, they had some plastic objects in their hands, they hit me with everything. They took a photo of me, I got the impression that they had to show it to someone. They were interested in how I organized these chats. I told them that I wasn’t organizing anything, I was just a participant and expressed my anger,” says the citizen.