Detained activist Nana Sander, arrested in connection with the so-called October case, has accused prison authorities of inhuman and degrading treatment, citing denial of medical care, delayed access to essential medication, and aggressive conduct by prison officials.
Sander raised the allegations during a court hearing, addressing Judge Tamar Chedlishvili, where she detailed the conditions she says she has faced in detention. Based on her testimony, prison officials repeatedly refused to provide necessary treatment and failed to deliver medication she says she has required for years, despite medical documentation from Germany. She also accused the prison director, Nestan Verulashvili, of direct involvement in what she described as hostile and degrading treatment.
At a previous hearing on January 13, Sander announced she had begun a hunger strike in protest against what she said was the prison administration’s disregard for her health needs. At a hearing held on January 20, she said she was forced to suspend the hunger strike after four days, following a warning from a doctor that she was at serious risk of falling into a coma.
Based on her account, her blood sugar levels dropped to critically low levels, she was unable to leave the bathroom without assistance, and her overall physical condition sharply deteriorated. Sander said that while routine checks such as blood pressure and oxygen saturation were performed, no comprehensive medical examinations or treatment were provided.
She told the court that she now requires painkillers several times a day, suffers from swelling, constant pain throughout her body, and severe sleep disturbances. She also claimed that only a fraction of her medical complaints were officially recorded by prison staff.
Sander further alleged selective and discriminatory treatment, claiming she was subjected to degrading practices from the moment she was transferred to the facility. She described actions she characterized as violations of human dignity, including forced undressing and what she referred to as sexual harassment involving several staff members, including senior officials.
“I am an innocent political prisoner,” she told the court, adding that such treatment would be unacceptable even toward ordinary inmates. “This is not humanity, this is torture,” she said.
Explaining why she had not spoken publicly earlier, Sander said she feared the impact on her mother, who has serious health problems, including a previous stroke. “I tried to resolve everything inside the prison,” she said, adding that she did not expect such conditions to exist in Georgian prisons.
Nana Sander was detained as part of criminal proceedings linked to protests and events in October, amid a broader crackdown on activists and demonstrators. Human rights groups have raised repeated concerns over the treatment of detainees arrested in protest-related cases, including access to healthcare and conditions of detention.
In her closing remarks to the court, Sander said she holds the prison administration fully responsible for her condition. “They have signed my death warrant — that’s what this is,” she stated.
Prison authorities have not yet publicly responded to the allegations.
Photo: Netgazeti
