Severely Injured Prisoner from Gldani Prison Dies in Clinic

"His injuries were severe enough for someone who fell from the tenth floor. This was deliberately planned and carried out by the Penitentiary Service. I cannot draw any other conclusion. They were responsible for protecting my brother. After the incident, they hid him for 48 hours without informing his lawyer or family members. A cellmate called the lawyer to inform him of Ioseb’s transfer. We knew nothing before then,” stated Shota Gorgadze, the deceased's brother.

The Special Penitentiary Service maintains that no pressure or violence occurred against prisoner Ioseb Gorgadze. The Service released surveillance video recorded at the penitentiary facility from January 14 to January 23.

According to the footage, on January 23, at 2:25 PM, staff quickly entered the cell; a doctor and nurse entered the cell two minutes later; at 2:51 PM, the prisoner was taken out of the cell on a stretcher; at 3:00 PM, an emergency medical aid brigade arrived at the facility; at 3:21 PM, the prisoner was placed in the ambulance on a stretcher; and at 3:58 PM, the accused was admitted to Vivamed Clinic. It was revealed that there was no video surveillance directly inside the cell.

Ioseb Gorgadze's lawyer, Mukhran Ghurtskaia, states that according to an independent expert's conclusion, Gorgadze sustained head and body injuries from "repeated actions of blunt objects."

"The investigation has been ongoing for approximately four months, but unsuccessfully. No one has been charged or arrested.

The investigation's version is that Ioseb Gorgadze supposedly fell and sustained these injuries. He had over 30 injuries to his head and face. It's impossible that these injuries could result from a single fall.

It's also unimaginable that only prisoners did this. Prison staff were likely involved," the lawyer said to TV Pirveli.

According to Zurab Chkhaidze, Clinical Director of Vivamed Clinic, the prisoner did not suffer a stroke. Instead, his death was caused by multiple injuries and traumatic brain injury.

According to the medical report prepared by Vivamed Clinic for Ioseb Gorgadze, his injuries included a concussion, traumatic subdural hematoma, other eye and orbital (eyeball) traumas, skull fracture, facial bone fractures, unspecified skull and facial bone fractures, head injury, hemorrhage or hematoma, other complications of medical manipulation, coma, anoxic brain damage, and more.

"Ioseb Gorgadze fell and hit his head. The investigation will determine why the report stated such a thing [30 injuries]. Did you see the footage? What are you saying, that we did this? The investigation has the full recording and will examine it," stated Paata Salia, the Georgian Dream Minister of Justice.

Ioseb Gorgadze, 46, was arrested on October 24 of last year due to a car accident on the Tsalka road. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, at approximately 2:00 AM, Gorgadze was driving a Ford vehicle from Tsalka towards the village Koda when it struck four individuals with his car. These individuals were returning from a Georgian Dream rally in Tbilisi. Three people died at the scene, and a fourth died in the hospital from their injuries.