GEORGIA: Inmates at the Tbilisi jail at the heart of a prison abuse scandal that's dented the image of President Mikheil Saakashvili vote in the parliamentary election

Record ID: 327823

  • Title: GEORGIA: Inmates at the Tbilisi jail at the heart of a prison abuse scandal that's dented the image of President Mikheil Saakashvili vote in the parliamentary election
  • Date: 2nd October 2012
  • Summary: TOP VIEW OF GLDANI NO.8 PRISON GUARD ON WATCHTOWER BARRACKS INMATES REGISTERING FOR VOTING INMATES IN CORRIDOR INMATES REGISTERING FOR VOTING ID CARDS CHECKED ON TABLE INMATE WALKING INTO VOTING BOOTH (SOUNDBITE) (Georgian) SHALVA MIKADZE. DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF ELECTORAL COMMISSION NO. 116, SAYING: "The polling station opened at eight o'clock. The first voter casted his ballot at three minutes past eight. The voting is going fine, there were no incidents or violations." EXTERIOR OF PRISON GUARDS CLOSING PRISON GATES
  • Embargoed: 17th October 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Georgia
  • Country: Georgia
  • Topics: Crime,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3PDVJ094UANPN7LYSRMNB22F1
  • Story Text: Inmates at the Georgian prison at the heart of the pre-election abuse video scandal casted their ballots in the parliamentary poll on Monday (October 1).
    The television footage of prisoners being tortured and raped ignited protests in Georgia and left President Mikheil Saakashvili facing an unexpectedly tough battle to keep power in the volatile Caucasus state, a transit route for oil and gas to the West.
    The scandal dimmed the image the pro-Western, U.S.-educated Saakashvili had cultivated as a reformer who has curbed corruption and ushered in democracy, handing ammunition to foes who say he has actually trampled on rights and freedoms.
    The abuse scandal has increased tensions before the vote, prompting calls for restraint from the West.
    Saakashvili's government says the video, which shows guards beating, punching and humiliating prisoners, as well as inmates being raped with various objects, was recorded by guards who were bribed by "politically motivated persons".
    The grim footage has enabled his main rival Bidzina Ivanishvili, a once-reclusive tycoon who has a spectacular glass and steel house overlooking Tbilisi, to call the vote "a choice between good and evil".
    Saakashvili promised to clean up Georgia's jails and curb abuse. The voting proceeded as normal, with the electoral district no. 116 opened at the prison.
    "The polling station opened at eight o'clock. The first voter casted his ballot at three minutes past eight. The voting is going fine, there were no incidents or violations," said Shalva Mikadze, the deputy chairman of the electoral commission in the jail.
    An opinion poll in August put Saakashvili's United National Movement on 37 percent support against 12 percent for Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream coalition and showed 43 percent of respondents could vote either way. No polls have appeared since the protests but the opposition is expected to make gains.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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