CNNPrison 'torture' footage sparks protests in Georgia
By Moscow correspondent Norman Hermant, wires
Updated Thu Sep 20, 2012 6:16am AEST
Georgia's president has suspended the country's entire prison staff, amid protests over video footage showing guards abusing prisoners.
Protests erupted after opposition television channels aired the footage, which appeared to show guards beating inmates and sexually assaulting one with a broom in a prison in the capital Tblisi.
The scandal has prompted the resignation of the minister responsible for prisons and comes less than two weeks before government elections.
In response to the footage, president Mikheil Saakashvili has deployed police in jails to replace prison officers.
He called the abuse on the video inhuman and said those who have committed any crimes will serve long jail terms.
He also demanded a complete overhaul of the ex-Soviet state's much-criticised jails.
"We guarantee that we will eradicate torture in the penitentiary system. There must be zero tolerance towards rights abuses," Mr Saakashvili said.
Hundreds staged an angry protest and blocked one of the capital's main streets in response to the abuse.
Some carried hand-drawn pictures of prisoners being beaten and others held photographs of relatives allegedly abused in jails.
"I am protesting against torture in prisons, which are under the strict control of the authorities. The authorities are responsible for what's happening there," one demonstrator, bank worker Mikheil Javakhishvili, said.
"All of Georgia must take to the streets in protest against this horror," another protester, Sophia Gabichvadze, said.
Small protests were also held outside the prison in the Tbilisi suburb of Gldani where the alleged abuse took place and in several other Georgian towns, according to local media.
A government statement said 15 alleged perpetrators had already been arrested and claimed the videos were staged by provocateurs paid to discredit the authorities ahead of the polls.
"It should be noted that these were premeditated crimes and there is evidence that those who arranged, conducted and recorded these abuses were paid to do so," the government statement said.
The videos have caused a scandal ahead of the October 1 polls which will see Mr Saakashvili's ruling party face a major challenge from an opposition bloc led by billionaire tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili, who has vowed to oust the government.
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"While working in prison, I used to witness beating of prisoners, torture of prisoners, humiliation of prisoners on an everyday basis," Vladimir Bedukadze told CNN.
The acts were recorded in four videos that were made public this week and show prisoners being physically and sexually assaulted, humiliated and verbally abused by prison officers.
Bedukadze slammed the administration of President Mikheil Saakashvili, accusing the leader of allowing a "campaign of torture, humiliation" under former Interior Minister Bacho Akhalaia.
"I have been working in the system since 2001, but since 2005 when Akhalaia was put in charge, he introduced his criminal elements of leadership," Bedukadze said.
Akhalaia resigned his post Thursday after the videos' release prompted outrage both inside and outside the Eurasian country. Georgia's minister of corrections and legal assistance has also stepped down. And Saaskashvili himself condemned the abuse, saying Wednesday that what occurred at Gldani No. 8 penitentiary in Tbilisi is "a horrific affront to human rights and human dignity."
Bedukadze said he had been collecting the footage for more than a year.
"When I realized that I could not take it any more, I decided to reveal it and depart for Europe," he said, calling for Saakashvili to resign and accusing the president of establishing "a criminal government with the leadership of Akhalaia."
His comments echo a key allegation made by Georgia's opposition, which says senior government officials sanctioned the abuse.
Saakashvili has said an active investigation is under way into those responsible, with some arrests already taking place.
