Street protests against the brutal abuse of prisoners escalated in the Georgian capital.
Fueling anger against the government and possibly boosting support for the opposition in the runup to a tightly contested parliamentary election.
Two days after television stations aired videos of guards beating inmates and raping them with truncheons and broom handles, thousands rallied outside the Interior Ministry's headquarters and the Tbilisi prison where the abuse occurred. The demonstrators, some carrying brooms, demanded the resignation of the nation's interior minister.
President Mikhail Saakashvili has sought to defuse tensions by accepting the resignation of a minister in charge of penitentiaries and completely reshuffling prison personnel. But the simmering public anger threatens to damage his party in the Oct. 1 parliamentary vote and may boost support for the opposition Georgian Dream party led by billionaire philanthropist Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Saakashvili, who has led Georgia since 2004, has remained popular thanks to economic reforms, anti-corruption efforts and moves to integrate closer into the West. But his image was dented by his handling of a disastrous war with Russia in 2008. The opposition has also accused Saakashvili of a systematic clampdown on dissent and independent media.
Ivanishvili, Georgia's richest man who sold his extensive business assets in Russia to enter Georgian politics, said the videos had confirmed his longtime suspicions of the Georgian authorities' brutality.
Inmate's mother Veriko Kapanadze recalled that her son looked scared and tense when she last visited him in prison. "Now I understand why. It's like a Gestapo prison."
Georgian prosecutors have arrested 12 prison officials and Saakashvili has vowed that all those responsible will be severely punished. At the same time, the Georgian Interior Ministry has blamed Saakashvili's political foes for staging the videos, claiming prison officials were paid for orchestrating and filming the abuse by an inmate with connections to Ivanishvili. Ivanishvili has rejected the claim.
The prison abuse videos were broadcast by Maestro and Channel 9 television stations; the latter belongs to Ivanishvili. They said they got the videos from a prison official who has fled abroad.
Rallies against abuse of prisoners grow in Georgia
Street protests against the brutal abuse of prisoners escalated in the Georgian capital.
Fueling anger against the government and possibly boosting support for the opposition in the runup to a tightly contested parliamentary election.
Two days after television stations aired videos of guards beating inmates and raping them with truncheons and broom handles, thousands rallied outside the Interior Ministry's headquarters and the Tbilisi prison where the abuse occurred. The demonstrators, some carrying brooms, demanded the resignation of the nation's interior minister.
President Mikhail Saakashvili has sought to defuse tensions by accepting the resignation of a minister in charge of penitentiaries and completely reshuffling prison personnel. But the simmering public anger threatens to damage his party in the Oct. 1 parliamentary vote and may boost support for the opposition Georgian Dream party led by billionaire philanthropist Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Saakashvili, who has led Georgia since 2004, has remained popular thanks to economic reforms, anti-corruption efforts and moves to integrate closer into the West. But his image was dented by his handling of a disastrous war with Russia in 2008. The opposition has also accused Saakashvili of a systematic clampdown on dissent and independent media.
Ivanishvili, Georgia's richest man who sold his extensive business assets in Russia to enter Georgian politics, said the videos had confirmed his longtime suspicions of the Georgian authorities' brutality.
Inmate's mother Veriko Kapanadze recalled that her son looked scared and tense when she last visited him in prison. "Now I understand why. It's like a Gestapo prison."
Georgian prosecutors have arrested 12 prison officials and Saakashvili has vowed that all those responsible will be severely punished. At the same time, the Georgian Interior Ministry has blamed Saakashvili's political foes for staging the videos, claiming prison officials were paid for orchestrating and filming the abuse by an inmate with connections to Ivanishvili. Ivanishvili has rejected the claim.
The prison abuse videos were broadcast by Maestro and Channel 9 television stations; the latter belongs to Ivanishvili. They said they got the videos from a prison official who has fled abroad.
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