Bail denied to prosecutor charged with exercising pressure on minor who later died

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. 

Choloiani’s lawyer says that the decision is “very unfair” and came because of the public turmoil around the case. 

The State Inspector’s Office, which is an independent agency investigating alleged offences committed by law enforcers, stated on February 7 that they have carried out 400 investigative activities into the case of the death of 15-year-old Luka Siradze, who committed suicide late last year after being interrogated by law enforcers.

The State Inspector’s Office says that Choloiani violated the Juvenile Justice Code during the interrogation of Siradze and threatened him with creating problems for his brother if he refused to confess to damaging the property of a private school in Tbilisi and writing vulgar phrases on its walls.

The State Inspector’s Office also said that two employees of the Didube - Chigureti police station also violated the law when one verbally insulted the minor and another spoke with the minor in the absence of his legal representative, in this case – his mother. 

The State Inspector’s Office has addressed the General Inspection of the Georgian Interior Ministry to discuss the disciplinary punishment for the two.

The agency says that Mtsvane School, which was damaged, violated the law on personal data and the law on general education.

The agency states that the video footage, reflecting the incident, was “processed and used unlawfully” by the school and that the school administration failed to ensure the presence of parents and psychologists during the interrogation of minors by police regarding the incident.