Penitentiary video reinforces rather than disprove prisoner’s sexual abuse allegations, forner ombudswoman

Nino Lomjaria, founder of the European Orbit of Georgia, has said video footage released by Georgia’s Special Penitentiary Service appears to support rather than rule out allegations made by prisoner Giorgi Davitidze that he was sexually abused by prison staff.

“The video released by the Penitentiary Service confirms rather than excludes what the prisoner is saying in court,” Lomjaria said.

She argued that if a prisoner is subjected to mocking or threatening statements of a sexual nature during a body search, thereby giving the procedure a sexualised context, this could at minimum constitute inhuman or degrading treatment. She added that, if accompanied by penetration of a body part, such conduct could meet the legal threshold for rape.

Davitidze, a prisoner at Rustavi’s No. 6 Penitentiary Facility, has alleged that prison guards sexually assaulted him in a de-escalation room, claiming the incident was intended to humiliate and punish him. The Penitentiary Service has denied the allegations.

The service released footage recorded on December 21, 2025, showing Davitidze being transferred to and held in the de-escalation room. It said the footage showed staff carrying out a body search after Davitidze refused to undergo the procedure and verbally abused officers. According to the service, the search was conducted using an electronic body detector.

The Penitentiary Service has said the footage was reviewed by investigators and a representative of the Public Defender’s Office, and that no signs of a criminal offence were identified. It has denied that any form of violence, including sexual violence, took place.