AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

GEORGIA: APPEAL CASES

2 April 2001¹; AI Index: EUR 56/005/2001; public

Paata Skhirtladze: Ill-treated by fellow prisoners with alleged tacit consent of prison guards

Paata Skhirtladze, who is said to be connected with the Osho Community, a spiritual group focussed on Eastern philosophies and meditation, was detained in the city of Rustavi on 20 June 2000 after he had allegedly exposed himself.

After being brought to Ortachala investigation-isolation prison in the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi, some prisoners are said to have become suspicious about his non-orthodox spiritual beliefs, and to have

assumed from these that Paata Skhirtladze was linked with a series of child murders (two of which are said to have been of a "ritual" nature).

Allegedly, one or more prisoners physically assaulted him, and cut off

a part of one of his ears.

The exact circumstances of the assault are unclear. According to some reports, a prisoner or prisoners gained access to Paata Skhirtladze, even though he was reportedly in solitary confinement at the time, and physically assaulted him, including by cutting off a part of one of his ears. Other reports, however, indicate that Paara Skhirtladze was in a cell with other prisoners when the assault took place. The Georgian Public Defender (ombudsperson), Nana Devdariani, told Amnesty International in September 2000 that her office had raised the case with prison officials when the allegations of abuse emerged, and that Paata Skhirtladze had been transferred to a communal cell after the assault, at his own request, where his relations with the other prisoners were said to be normal.

Amnesty International has no details of any charge or charges instituted in connection with the assault on Paata Skhirtladze.

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