Public Defender Nino Lomjaria and Deputy Public Defender Giorgi Burjanadze met with MykolaGnatovskyy, President of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), RégisBrillat, Executive Secretary of the same committee, and Boris Wόdz, Head of Division, in Strasbourg.

The Georgian Public Defender reviewed the situation in Georgian prisons and spoke about the monitoring report on four prisons that was published in December last year. The Public Defender emphasized the fact that violations identified by the National Preventive Mechanism in the penitentiary establishments correspond to the problems identified in the 2019 report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture.

Particular emphasis was placed on the challenges emerged after the publication of the report, when the Special Penitentiary Service, a body subordinated to the Ministry of Justice, violated the confidentiality of the Public Defender's meeting with prisoners and disclosed information both about the meeting and the prisoners’ names. The Public Defender has already addressed the Prosecutor General’s Office and the State Inspector’s Office with regard to the above.

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, within its competence, will actively monitor developments around the Public Defender's Office of Georgia.

During the meeting, the Public Defender reiterated the importance of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and its efforts in Georgia, which promotes harmonization of the penitentiary system with European standards.