Georgian musician Misho Sulukhia alleged on October 7 that plainclothes men claiming to be law enforcers assaulted him near Tbilisi’s Lisi Lake and attempted to force him to confess to a crime he did not commit. The Interior Ministry disputed his account the following day, saying officers had stopped him for checks and that he fled after refusing to comply with their orders.
“On my way to visit a friend near Lisi Lake in the evening, plainclothes young men blocked our path, pulled me out of the taxi, took my phone and physically assaulted me,” Sulukhia wrote in a Facebook post that has since been deleted but was cited by local media.
“They told me they were law enforcers, but none of them identified themselves or presented identification documents,” he wrote.
Sulukhia alleged that the men surrounded him and restricted his movement for more than an hour. He said they found no illegal substances during a search and that he was sober.
“I saw them preparing an object wrapped in black tape, at which point I escaped from the group,” he wrote, adding that none of the seven men managed to catch him.
Sulukhia also claimed that the taxi driver had been detained and also pressured to confess. “They were offering me a scenario in which I would confess to a crime I had nothing to do with,” he wrote.
The Interior Ministry offered a different account of the incident on October 8, saying Sulukhia, who it described as previously convicted of a drug-related offense and currently serving a suspended sentence, had been walking suspiciously through a wooded area near Lisi Lake when officers stopped him for police check.
According to the ministry, Sulukhia refused to comply with lawful police orders, dropped his mobile phone and fled the scene.
The ministry said officers secured and sealed the phone, along with a bank card found in its case, in accordance with established procedures.
Authorities said administrative proceedings had been initiated under Article 173 of Georgia’s Code of Administrative Offenses, which concerns failure to comply with a lawful order from a law enforcement officer.
The ministry’s statement did not address Sulukhia’s allegations of physical assault or his claims concerning the taxi driver.
In a follow-up Facebook post on October 8, Sulukhia expressed concern that authorities could fabricate evidence to justify their actions, citing what he described as the concerns of lawyers and well-wishers.
“They will prepare search warrants backdated to the previous day. Eight police officers will say whatever is needed to justify everything I went through,” he wrote.
The musician’s allegations came shortly after another reported case of police abuse. On October 7, Sergey Kancheli, 23-year-old anti-government protester, said in a Facebook post that he had left Georgia after six police officers allegedly detained and assaulted him on September 27. Kancheli said the officers took him to a cemetery, scratched his face with a knife, threatened him with a gun and were pressuring him to engage in sexual act. He said he was now in a safe country.
Also Read:
