Court sends investigator to detention for putting pressure on minor leading to suicide
Mariana Choloiani, who was detained on December 17 for allegedly forcing the minor to admit the crime of damaging the property of a private school in Tbilisi and writing vulgar phrases on its walls, remains in hospital since then. Photo: Shot from Imedi TV video
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Tbilisi City Court has sent female investigator Mariana Choloiani to detention for exerting pressure on Luka Siradze, 15, who died at M. Iashvili Children’s Central Hospital earlier this week.
The crime is punishable by five to nine years in prison.
Choloiani, who was detained on December 17 for allegedly forcing the minor to admit the crime of damaging the property of a private school in Tbilisi and writing vulgar phrases on its walls, which led to his suicide attempt and eventual death, remains in hospital since then.
The civic movement Sirtskhvilia (Shame) has made inscriptions at various places in Tbilisi in protest of the recent incident with the minor.
Siradze’s family and lawyer consider that the minor might have been driven to commit suicide after being subjected to psychological pressure at the Didube-Chugureti police station on December 10 and 11.
Prosecutor’s Office announced earlier today that while questioning Siradze, Choloiani did not follow the Juvenile Justice Code of Georgia and instead forced him to plead guilty.
The State Inspector's Office has been investigating the case since December 12, looking into giving testimony, evidence or opinion under duress.
Didube-Chugureti police district investigator Mariana Choloiani, arrested in connection with the recent suicide of a 15-year-old minor, has been charged today for forcing him to plead guilty, says the Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has promised “very tough punishment” for those, ‘no matter their status or rank’, whose guilt will be revealed by the State Inspector’s Office in pushing 15-year-old Luka Siradze to suicide on December 11. Gakharia has expressed his “deep sorrow” over the death of Siradze, who died in Iashvili Hospital in Tbilisi early yesterday due to severe injuries he received after jumping from the ninth floor of a building.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has responded to the death of 15-year-old Luka Siradze, who jumped from the ninth floor of a building after being subjected to alleged psychological pressure at Didube police station in Tbilisi, saying that “we must make major changes to avoid such tragedies.”“The death of a 15-year-old boy is a big tragedy for the state. I share the hard moments with the family and wish them to stand strong in this very difficult time,” Zurabishvili wrote.
UNICEF Georgia (United Nations Children's Emergency Fund) has called on the authorities to ensure children’s rights in the juvenile justice system, responding to the suicide attempt of a 15-year-old minor due to alleged psychological pressure at Didube-Chugureti police station last week.
State Inspector Londa Toloraia, who is investigating causes behind the death of 15-year-old Luka Siradze, says that investigator Mariana Choloiani, who has been sent to pretrial detention, made threats to the minor that if he had not admitted to the crime his brother would have had problems.
The Georgian State Inspector’s Office has sent the criminal case of prosecutor Mariana Choloiani, who is charged with exercising pressure on a minor to confess, to the court for deliberation.
Prosecutor Mariana Choloiani, who is charged with exercising pressure on a minor last year which allegedly pushed the minor to commit suicide, has been refused bail earlier today.
Police officer Soso Gabriadze, who was detained for shooting and killing a woman accidentally on April 20 in Tbilisi, will face more serious charges.
Tbilisi City Court has sentenced investigator Mariana Choloiani to 3 years in prison for placing psychological pressure on 15-year-old Luka Siradze, who subsequently tried to commit suicide and died several days later on December 17, 2019.