KAVTARADZE v. GEORGIA and 1 other application

2025-07-01T00:00:00
Published on 21 July 2025   FOURTH SECTION Applications nos. 42790/23 and 24108/24 Tornike KAVTARADZE against Georgia and Zurab Girchi JAPARIDZE and Nika MOSIASHVILI against Georgia lodged on 4 December 2023 and 9 August 2024 respectively communicated on 1 July 2025 SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE The applications concern the applicants’ alleged ill-treatment by the police in the course of their arrest and immediately thereafter on 7 March 2023 (application no. 24108/24) and 26 May 2023 (application no. 42790/23), respectively, and the alleged ineffectiveness of the subsequent criminal investigations. All three applicants sustained various injuries as a result of the alleged ill-treatment. Criminal proceedings were promptly initiated under Article 333 § 3 (b) of the Criminal Code (abuse of power using violence). The applicants allege, however, that the investigations have not been conducted in an adequate or efficient manner. They were denied victim status, and their various procedural requests – including, among others, the reclassification of the alleged criminal offence from Article 333 (abuse of power) to 144(3) (inhuman and degrading treatment) – were rejected. To date, not a single police officer involved in the incident of 7 March 2023 has been identified, and the proceedings have been stagnant for months, with no investigative actions carried out. The applicants rely on Article 3 of the Convention. QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES 1.  Have the applicants been subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment, in breach of Article 3 of the Convention (see Mikiashvili v. Georgia, no. 18996/06, 9 October 2012; Dvalishvili v. Georgia, no. 19634/07, 18 December 2012; Gogaladze v. Georgia, no. 8971/10, 18 July 2019)?   2.  Having regard to the procedural protection from inhuman or degrading treatment (see paragraph 131 of Labita v. Italy [GC], no. 26772/95, ECHR 2000-IV), were the investigations in the present cases by the domestic authorities in breach of Article 3 of the Convention?   APPENDIX No. Application no. Case name Lodged on Applicant Year of Birth Place of Residence Nationality Represented by 1. 42790/23 Kavtaradze v. Georgia 04/12/2023 Tornike KAVTARADZE 1994 Batumi Georgian   2. 24108/24 Japaridze and Mosiashvili v. Georgia 09/08/2024 Zurab Girchi JAPARIDZE 1976 Tbilisi Georgian Nika MOSIASHVILI 1993 Tbilisi Georgian Giorgi TABATADZE