Two employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have been arrested on the fact of violence against a minor with disabilities, as shown in the video released by the media. Giorgi Gamezardashvili, Deputy Head of the State Inspector’s Office, spoke about it at a briefing today.
“The investigative and procedural actions carried out at this stage have established the following:
“On January 23, in the evening, a 17-year-old minor with disabilities was at the Isani metro station with his brother and friends. A patrol inspector took the juvenile to a room for Patrol Police Department staff. One of the officers of the Patrol Police Department in the mentioned room punched the juvenile several times in the head and pulled this hair. Despite the juvenile hinting that he was deaf and could not understand the conversation, the police officer continued to beat him extensively. The incident was witnessed by the persons accompanying the juvenile.
“The juvenile received injuries to his head and face, suffered severe physical pain, and felt humiliated. The second employee of the Patrol Police Department, who witnessed the fact of violence, did not report the above to the investigative body – the State Inspector’s Office,” Gamezardashvili said.
The case concerns the footage released by TV Pirveli, which shows how a policeman beats a young man.
According to the recording, a youth accompanying the minor told the police that “he is deaf-mute and let go”, to which the law enforcer replied: “Shall I make him talk now?”.
After that, the footage shows one of the policemen dragging the mute boy into the room and physically assaulting him.
MIA publicly responded to the mentioned fact of violence, noting that “The Ministry of Internal Affairs condemns any action motivated by violence. For the agency, any form of violence perpetrated from the side of a police officer is completely unacceptable that may violate human rights.”
By Ana Dumbadze
