Statement of Special Investigation Service on the ongoing investigation regarding the public rallies that took place in April and May of 2024

The Special Investigation Service received 138 reports from various agencies and hotlines concerning potential unlawful actions by law enforcement officers against rally participants and violation of their rights“, reads the statement released by the Special Investigation Service.

"We would like to inform the public of the progress of the initiated criminal case investigations based on the reports of the public rally participants near the Parliament in April and May of 2024.

The Special Investigation Service received 138 reports from various agencies and hotlines concerning potential unlawful actions by law enforcement officers against rally participants and violation of their rights.

The public is aware that the Special Investigation Service, in response to the received reports, promptly launched an investigation under Article 333 (3b) of the Criminal Code of Georgia on the exceeding official powers using violence.

The subject of the investigation is also the facts of the possible excess of force committed by the law-enforcement officers revealed by the service against various persons as a result of the mass media video monitoring.

The Special Investigation Service provided an appropriate legal response to each received report. Since the initiation of the investigation, 137 people (13 journalists) have been interviewed, and 78 citizens have had a medical examination (only one examination report has been received so far).

Several places and surveillance cameras that could prove useful for the investigation were examined at the accident scene.

Investigative actions are implemented to establish the factual circumstances, identify the persons involved in the individual episodes of interest to the investigation, study the issue of excessive force used by law enforcement officers, and determine their identification marks. Among them, the surveillance CCTV, body cameras, dashcams, and car DVR/EVR camera recordings of interest to the investigation are obtained from various TV companies, the internet, and private and public institutions. So far, 700 hours of video material have been recovered and examined in detail as part of the investigation.

To conduct further investigative and procedural actions, personal information concerning the law enforcement officers who were involved in the individual episodes, detained the demonstrations’ participants and are important for the investigation were requested from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Both the identification data of the special forces in contact with the rally participants, the special things used by them (including rubber bullets), and the information transmitted through radio stations were requested from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

To obtain documentary evidence and compile a database of witnesses, the identities of the emergency medical assistance group staff members who were on duty in the Georgian Parliament building throughout the April and May 2024 demonstrations, were requested from the LEPL "Emergency Situations Coordination and Emergency Assistance Center."

Following the court's ruling, medical records and administrative detention protocols were requested from the Temporary Detention Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia.

The case materials, the court minutes, the audio recording of the administrative offense cases from Tbilisi City Court and the audio/video recordings submitted by the parties are requested and examined by the Service.

The Special Investigative Service makes inquiries about important issues for the investigation of the law enforcement officers contacted with the rally participants.

According to the decree of the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia, the status of the victim has been granted to 10 persons at the moment.

The service allows the participants of the rally in front of the Parliament of Georgia in April and May 2024 and their lawyers/defenders to access the criminal case materials if they point out the violation of their rights by law enforcement officers.

The Special Investigation Service will update the public about the progress and findings of the investigation", reads the statement.