Public Defender of Georgia Ucha Nanuashvili expresses his sorrow over the death of a person during his detention by police officers on Tbilisi’s Nutsubidze Plateau on October 25, 2017, and calls the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia to timely and effectively conduct all the investigative and procedural actions and launch criminal proceedings against the law enforcement officers if their illegal actions are proved.
According to the 29 October statement of the Prosecutor's Office, no recordings showing the incident could be found in the body or car cameras of the patrol police, as one of the patrol inspector's body camera was temporarily turned off when P.P. died, the other patrol inspector's camera was being charged in the car, while the police car camera could not cover the incident site.
The Public Defender considers that the fact that none of the three video cameras could record the death of P.P. hampers the establishment of the objective truth in the case and raises legitimate questions about the legitimacy of the patrol police officers’ actions.
The Public Defender of Georgia once again calls on the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia to ensure that police officers fully record their communication with physical persons by their body cameras. Existence of such recordings would help the investigation and eliminate all suspicions regarding police actions, which would positively affect the public trust in the police. It is noteworthy that the Public Defender has been recommending the abovementioned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for years, though, unfortunately, the recommendation has not been properly implemented.
The Public Defender also responds to the statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia and the dissemination of video footage by them, which was a clear attempt to discredit the deceased person in the public. The private life of a person does not allow the law enforcement authorities to use excessive force or abuse power and this circumstance should not serve as basis for tolerating police officers’ offences.