The Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation into allegations that lawyer Ia Siranashvili was physically assaulted by police officers during a search of the home of prominent government-critical animal rights defender and dog shelter owner Tamaz Elizbarashvili on September 1.
According to Siranashvili, police officers behaved aggressively during the search, obstructed her professional activities, prevented her from entering the house, and used physical force against her.
“They made me drop my phone, then knocked me down, and started kicking me… They didn’t let me inside, threw me out, locked the doors, and about five policemen kicked me together… I’m feeling very bad; my ribs hurt… They kicked me in the liver,” she told journalists afterward, visibly distressed.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office’s September 2 statement, the investigation was launched under Article 333, Part 3, subparagraph “b” of the Criminal Code, which pertains to “exceeding official power by use of force.”
The case caused outcry from lawyers and rights groups, which have called on the prosecutor’s office to investigate the incident promptly and effectively.
The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), a prominent human rights group, called on the Prosecutor’s Office to “immediately launch an investigation” and “ensure the timely identification of the persons who may have committed the crime.” It said that “interference in a lawyer’s professional activity and violence against them are entirely incompatible with the principles of the rule of law and pose a threat not only to the rights of the specific lawyer, but also to the independence of the legal profession and the administration of justice.”
The search of Elizbarashvili’s home came after police stopped and searched him in a car in Tbilisi as part of a probe into allegations of “threat” and the purchase and possession of firearms.
The probe reportedly follows an incident involving Elizbarashvili and a group of five to eight people in a Tbilisi restaurant two days earlier. Elizbarashvili’s family and lawyer have suggested that the group “likely” included employees of pro-government Imedi TV.
Elizbarashvili was subsequently detained late on September 1 on administrative charges of disobeying police.
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