Penitentiary Service: animal-rights defender Elizbarashvili is not being held in solitary confinement

The Special Penitentiary Service has rejected claims that animal-rights defender Tamaz Elizbarashvili has been placed in a solitary-confinement cell, saying he is being held in a cell designated for inmates on hunger strike in accordance with the penitentiary facility’s internal regulations.

The service on Thursday claimed Elizbarashvili, who is a former law-enforcement officer, is being held in the wing of Tbilisi’s N8 Penitentiary Facility designated for former law-enforcement personnel.

As no other inmate in the wing is currently on hunger strike, Elizbarashvili is alone in the cell designated for inmates on hunger strike, the service said.

The Special Penitentiary Service also said that Elizbarashvili underwent all relevant medical examinations upon entering the facility and remains under constant medical supervision while on hunger strike. He has been provided with medication for a chronic condition and is receiving it as prescribed.

The service further rejected claims that Elizbarashvili does not have an air-cooling device in his cell, saying he has been provided with a fan.

Regarding access to a television, the service said that, as with other defendants and convicted persons, Elizbarashvili must purchase the device from the penitentiary facility’s shop in accordance with established procedures.

The Special Penitentiary Service called on all interested parties and media outlets to refrain from disseminating unverified or inaccurate information and urged them to provide the public with accurate, objective and verified information.

Elizbarashvili is currently in pre-trial detention after being charged with making threats following a confrontation at a Tbilisi restaurant on August 30. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, a verbal dispute broke out between Elizbarashvili and another person over comments he had previously made on social media. Prosecutors allege that Elizbarashvili subsequently threatened the person and others accompanying him.

The Tbilisi City Court ordered his pre-trial detention on September 4. Elizbarashvili denies the allegations.