X AND Y v. GEORGIA
Inadmissible
George Nicolaou;Ineta Ziemele;Krzysztof Wojtyczek;Nona Tsotsoria;Päivi Hirvelä;Paul Mahoney
1. The applicants, Mr X (“the first applicant”) and Ms Y (“the second applicant”), are Georgian nationals, who were born in 1987 and 1970 respectively and live in Tbilisi. The second applicant is the first applicant’s mother. The President granted the applicants’ request for their identity not to be disclosed to the public (Rule 47 § 4). They were represented before the Court by Ms L. Mukhashavria, a lawyer practising in Tbilisi. 2. and supported by the case file, may be summarised as follows. 3. The first applicant was arrested on 8 March 2011 on charges of resisting police officers and illegal use of drugs. He had previously been convicted of drug use in 2009. On 10 March 2011 he was placed in Gldani no. 8 Prison. On the same date he was taken to a special temporary cell, where an operative inspector on duty, V.B., offered him the possibility of cooperating with the prison administration. V.B. threatened him with violence if he did not do as ordered by the prison administration. When the applicant remained silent, another prison officer, O.P., who was also present in the cell, asked him whether he wanted to become a so-called “thief in law” (see in this connection Ashlarba v. Georgia, no. 45554/08, §§ 18-24, 15 July 2014, not final yet). The applicant refused to reply. O.P. became angry and started insulting and beating the applicant. He was soon joined by another prison officer, identified subsequently as G.Ts. They both threatened the applicant with sexual violence. 4. After some ten minutes of beatings the first applicant was taken to another cell and handcuffed to the doors half-naked. O.P. again demanded that he cooperate with the prison administration. The applicant did not reply. O.P. brought in another prisoner and threatened the applicant with sexual violence. The applicant subsequently accepted the “offer” by signing a note and undertaking to provide the prison administration with any information that could be of interest to them. 5. On 18 September 2012, one of the national private television companies, Maestro, broadcast several secret video recordings of alleged illtreatment of prisoners in Gldani no. 8 Prison. It later came to light that a major part of that footage had been personally taken by a prison officer, V.B., who had subsequently left Georgia. While abroad he had given a copy of the footage to a Georgian journalist. 6. One of the videos shown on that day by national television and uploaded subsequently to various internet sites depicted the first applicant’s ill-treatment of 10 March 2011. The video, which had been secretly recorded by V.B., lasted for some ten minutes and included scenes of the first applicant being verbally and physically abused. The video ended with the applicant writing a note and undertaking to cooperate with the prison administration. 7. In the footage broadcast by the Maestro channel on 18 September 2012 the first applicant’s face was only partly concealed. Hence, members of his family, including the second applicant, immediately identified him. They also recognised him based on further evidence. After watching the video, the first applicant allegedly attempted to commit suicide. 8. On 19 September 2012 some sixteen officials, among them the head and deputy head of the prison department (an authority in charge of prisons in Georgia), one prison governor and various prison officers, including O.P. and G.Ts., were arrested and charged with several distinct episodes of illtreatment and torture, including the first applicant’s case. 9. On 6 June 2013 the Chief Prosecutor of Georgia concluded a plea bargain involving special cooperation with V.B., in which the latter agreed to cooperate with the investigation in return for being absolved of criminal responsibility. On 11 June 2013 another plea bargain was concluded with G.Ts. in which he pleaded guilty in return for a more lenient sentence (see in this connection Natsvlishvili and Togonidze v. Georgia, no. 9043/05, §§ 49-53 and 90-98, ECHR 2014 (extracts)). 10. By a decision of 14 June 2013, the Tbilisi City Court confirmed the plea bargains concluded with V.B. and G.Ts. Accordingly, V.B. was absolved of criminal responsibility, while G.Ts was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and a fine in the amount of 2,000 Georgian laris. By virtue of an Amnesty Law of 18 December 2012, G.Ts.’s prison sentence was reduced to one year and six months. As regards O.P., his final prison sentence for four different episodes of ill-treatment, including the first applicant’s case, after the application of the Amnesty Law and the respective provisions concerning the calculation of prison sentences, amounted to six years and nine months. He was additionally banned from holding a public position for a year and six months. 11. The Tbilisi City Court delivered the above decision at a closed hearing on 14 June 2013 and it was served on the first applicant on 27 June 2013. 12. The relevant provision concerning a “procedural agreement” (“საპროცესო შეთანხმება” in Georgian, saprotseso shetankhmeba), or plea bargain, as introduced into the new Code of Criminal Procedure of Georgia (entered into force on 1 October 2010) and applicable at the material time, reads as follows: Article 217 §§ 2 and 3 “2. The injured party has no right to appeal against a plea bargain. 3. A plea bargain does not prevent the injured party from lodging a civil complaint.”