Family members of convicted inmate Giorgi Davitadze holding protest outside Rustavi Penitentiary Facility No. 6.

Family members of convicted inmate Giorgi Davitadze are holding a protest outside Rustavi Penitentiary Facility No. 6.

They are speaking out about the violence inflicted upon Davitadze and are demanding the full release of the footage that, according to them, documents the abuse of the inmate.

Irma Davitadze, Giorgi Davitadze’s mother, stated that the guards who—according to her—abuse prisoners must be punished.

"The abuser Trapaidze, along with the petty men he has gathered around him, commits violence against prisoners, and I will not forgive this. They must be held accountable for all of this. These people have replaced the bloody executioners of the nine-year regime, and they are nothing but abusive executioners who wallow in filth," declared Irma Davitadze.

Regarding the video footage already released by the penitentiary institution—which the agency claims shows Giorgi Davitadze in a de-escalation room—Irma Davitadze states that the footage does not fully reflect what actually happened.

"They showed a 2-3 second clip, yet even there, anyone who wants to see what is happening can see it perfectly well. Ten of those thugs surrounded Giorgi—who had fallen and was slumped against the bed—and twisted his limbs. You can see the movements of their hands and the acts they committed; the other thugs formed a human wall to block a clear view of it. Besides that, there are five other files; the Rustavi Prosecutor's Office was obliged to show them to me. Some 'Kotsi' [ruling party] supporters refuse to believe this, claiming we invented the whole thing—well, let them release the footage with the audio," stated Irma Davitadze.