A 46-year-old man, Ioseb Gorgadze, died yesterday, April 4, after three months of treatment at the Vivamedi clinic, where he was transferred from prison in late January with multiple injuries. His lawyer claims that the prisoner was “severely beaten” in custody and alleges abuse by prison staff. Authorities have dismissed the allegations as “political manipulation” of a “human tragedy” and claim no violence took place.
The official cause of death was brain trauma, according to Vivamedi clinic director Zura Chkhaidze, who told TV Pirveli that the prisoner was admitted on January 30 with “multiple injuries.” The prisoner’s lawyer, Mukhran Ghurtskaia, said his client had “about 30 fractures in his face and head” and rejected what he said were attempts by investigators to claim the injuries were the result of a fall in a bathroom.
“Since the fact of death has been established, the Special Investigation Service has now opened an investigation,” the lawyer said.
“He could not have received these injuries from just a fall. It is also impossible that only inmates could have done this. The prison staff is allegedly involved,” the lawyer said, criticizing the investigation, which has not charged anyone yet.
The clinical report from Tbilisi’s Gldani prison, before Gorgadze’s transfer to the hospital, made no mention of the injuries, saying only that he had suffered a brain stroke and needed to be hospitalized.
Faced with the backlash, Georgia’s Special Penitentiary Service issued a statement slamming the media for “using a human tragedy for political purposes” and denying allegations of abuse by prison staff, noting that “neither the prisoner nor his lawyer had ever complained about violations of his rights in prison.”
The prison service also said that the prisoner’s health “deteriorated” on January 23, a week before he was transferred to Vivamedi, where he was “constantly monitored by medical staff,” but doctors failed to save his life after three months. It also noted that the investigation is ongoing and that “no incident of fighting or violence has been confirmed.” During the three months he was hospitalized, the investigation produced no results, no one was charged, and the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Justice had opened an investigation under Article 118 of the Penal Code, which refers to injury to health.
Public Defender Levan Ioseliani said his office has been involved in the case since Gorgadze’s transfer to Vivamedi in January. He noted that his representative met with doctors, inmates and prison staff, but was unable to speak with the prisoner due to his condition.
Ioseliani added that the Ombudsman’s office had reviewed surveillance footage near the prisoner’s cell, although there were no cameras inside it. He promised a “thorough” investigation of the case.
Ioseb Gorgadze was arrested after the car accident involving fatalities on October 24, 2024. He was still in pre-trial detention when his family learned on January 27, allegedly a week after he was transferred to the clinic with the injuries, as they were told that he wouldn’t be able to attend his court hearing due to his health condition. The family believed that he had been beaten in custody. There were reports that he had severe injuries to his head and strangulation marks on his neck.
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