Lazare Maglakelidze, a 20-year-old protestor arrested on December 2 during the violent dispersal of a rally in Tbilisi, has shared harrowing details of police brutality.
"When they arrested me, the first thing I did was lie down on the ground and cover my head with my hands. Even as I lay there, I was kicked several times. They emptied my pockets, taking everything—wallet, phone—everything. I had a bag on me that they couldn’t remove, so they tore it off. There wasn’t much of value inside—just pants, a raincoat, a jacket, water, snacks, a charger, and a phone battery.
After robbing me, they made me stand up and took me to a spot near their parked vehicles. As they transferred me, they warned each other not to hit me yet because there were cameras around. They started looking for one of their specially prepared vans, the kind everyone knows about—the ones with most of the seats removed to create space for beating people inside.
This isn’t some spontaneous decision made by one officer or an on-the-spot improvisation. Every special forces officer knows that detainees are to be taken to these vans, beaten, and 'processed,' so to speak. I could hear them asking, 'Where’s the van?' and pointing each other in the right direction, saying, 'Take him there and wait.' It’s a standard procedure every officer knows to follow.
When they talk about the detainees, it turns into a show for them, full of laughter and mockery. They say things like, 'We’ll whip you into shape,' or 'We’ll rape you with batons.' They make these threats as part of their fun. As for the verbal abuse and swearing—I won’t even get into that," Lazare told Radio Liberty.
"One of them kept shouting at us all night, saying, 'What kind of men are you? If you want war, go fight in Ukraine! You call yourselves patriots, but you love it in the ###, don’t you? Just wait and see what I’ll do to you!' This went on for hours, filled with horrifying threats, not just the usual insults," he added.
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