The Tbilisi City Court has found Aleksandre Mukhadze—known by the nickname “Killera” and former director of the 8th Penitentiary Institution—guilty of torturing a prisoner, based on evidence presented by the Prosecutor’s Office.
Prosecutor General’s Office says Mukhadze was sentenced to nine years in prison.
The court determined that in May 2011, at the 8th Penitentiary Facility, Megis Kardava and Aleksandre Mukhadze coerced a detainee—arrested on narcotics charges—into confessing to fictitious terrorist activities and implicating others. They reportedly threatened the prisoner with rape and, according to testimonies, even provided narcotics to create grounds for additional charges.
When the detainee refused to comply, he was forced to witness the sexual abuse of another inmate and was threatened with the same fate unless he confessed. Mukhadze also subjected the prisoner to repeated physical assaults.
Under severe psychological and physical duress, the detainee eventually wrote a false confession. Dissatisfied with its content, Mukhadze and Kardava reportedly forced the prisoner to eat the handwritten statement. Subsequently, a staged sexual assault was filmed as an additional means of coercion.
Faced with the threat of the footage being released and further abuse, the victim signed the false confession. The ongoing torture led the victim to attempt suicide.
The Tbilisi City Court concluded that Aleksandre Mukhadze was guilty of group torture and handed down a nine-year prison sentence.
