Another oppositional ombudsman?

Let us remind you that the situation in the penitentiary system, which reforming is considered to be the source of the authorities' pride, turned out to be the subject of public discussion after the 202 TV company journalist Shalva Ramishvili was liberated.

As Ramishvili stated during the joint briefing with the Georgian parliament deputy Georgiy Tsagareishvili, the prisons are desperately lacking beds, so the prisoners have to take a sleep in turn. There are also serious problems with meals, as well as with practicing proper personal hygiene.

Ramishvili addressed Minister for Sentence Servicing, Probation and Legal Assistance Dmitriy Shashkin, calling upon him to concentrate on specific problems of the definite prison. He also called upon the international human rights organization to pay more attention to the Georgian prisons, for, as he said, neither of these organizations ever visited, for instance, prison No. 2 last year.

At that time, no one paid attention to Ramiashvili's statement. Minister for Sentence Serving and Probation took Tugushi's report rather painfully. He stated on the air of Imedi TV Company that he strongly doubts the objectiveness of the report that was made by former people's defender and the current oppositional politician Sozar Subari.

In his comments given to Rustavi-2 TV Company, Dmitriy Shashkin stated: "This report was prepared by the former people's defender who is currently the leader of one of the oppositional parties".

Shaskin also underlined that, according to the report, the breaches in the sentence serving system are not "systematic".

Although many people had reckoned that Georgiy Tugushi would be more loyal to the current authorities, their expectations were deceived. Tugushi, who was nominated by the pro-presidential majority and approved accordingly, took his predecessor's position. "Mister Subari saw the part of the report that deals with the sentence serving system, for this part was not yet complete when he left office", - Tugushi is cited by Civil.ge.

Neither did the new ombudsman withhold criticism against the opposition. "The problem remains in the police's abuse of power, as well as in the investigation of the cases of torture and inhuman and humiliating treatment, - the report says.

Thus, the Georgian authorities have quite unexpectedly got another opposition's defender as ombudsman.

At the end of 2008, people's defender Sozar Subari accused Head of MIA Vano Merabishvili of being in criminal cahoots against the people.

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