Taking into account the special public interest, Public defender Nino Lomjaria published the results of the ongoing study on the case of the former deputy head of the Security Service, Soso Gogashvili.

According to the Ombudsman's explanation, Soso Gogashvili confirmed with the representative of the Public Defender the specific time periods of the criminal act, after which the Public Defender called on the Special Investigation Service to start an investigation and requested to archive the recordings of the video cameras on the relevant perimeter of the N12 facility.

According to the published information, the Special Penitentiary Service informed the Office of the Public Defender that the recording devices in the N12 Penitentiary Institution were out of order on the specified dates.

The Public Defender calls on the Special Investigation Service to study the reasons for the malfunctioning of the video cameras in the N12 facility during the mentioned period, in order to rule out or confirm the suspicion of purposefully damaging the cameras or erasing relevant records.

"Ioseb Gogashvili and his lawyers made a statement on August 11, 2022 (https://bit.ly/3PMfioM) regarding the threats made in the N12 penitentiary institution. According to their reports, Gogashvili was threatened in the bathroom while talking to the Minister of Internal Affairs on a mobile phone.

The defendant confirmed the mentioned information during a personal interview with the representative of the Public Defender and indicated the specific time periods of the criminal act from July 28 to August 5, 2022. The Public Defender called on the Special Investigation Service to start an investigation and on the same day requested to archive the recordings of the video cameras on the relevant perimeter of the N12 facility (https://bit.ly/3PKRT7p).

In a letter dated August 23, 2022, the Special Penitentiary Service informed the Office of the Public Defender that on the specified dates, recording devices were out of order in the N12 penitentiary institution, which is why the request of the Office of the Public Defender regarding the archiving of video recordings could not be fulfilled.

The Public Defender believes that the reliability of the response of the Special Penitentiary Service raises certain questions and, at the same time, calls into question the protection of the physical safety of the prisoner, who should have been under electronic surveillance for 24 hours. At the same time, it is worth noting that the Public Defender's Office requested the archiving of video camera recordings covering a large area (Ioseb Gogashvili's movement route, cell, common space, corridor on specific dates). According to the response received, it seems that a large part of the video surveillance recording system of the N12 facility is actually not functioning, which calls into question the effectiveness of the management of the penitentiary and the safety of the prisoners.

Accordingly, the Public Defender calls on the Special Investigation Service to study the reasons for malfunctioning of the video cameras in the N12 facility during the mentioned period, in order to rule out or confirm the suspicion of purposefully damaging the cameras or erasing relevant records.

Here we inform the public that in order to fully study the materials of the case against Ioseb Gogashvili, the Public Defender has applied to the Prosecutor General of Georgia for an exceptional admission. Unfortunately, with the letter No. 13/53158 of the General Prosecutor's Office dated August 23, 2022, the Office of the Public Defender was refused access to the materials. Thus, the Office of the Public Defender will take the appropriate legal response based on the materials presented by the defense side", reads the information.

source: IPN