After visiting inmates at the 12th Penitentiary Institution, Public Defender Levan Ioselian stated that most of the accused and convicted individuals are troubled by restrictions on communication with the outside world.

According to him, this issue became particularly visible to the public in the case of Levan Khabeishvili, after which the Public Defender’s office took a deeper interest in the matter.

“Today, I visited the 12th Penitentiary Institution, where I met with accused and convicted individuals. I personally checked the conditions of detention in their cells, spoke with them about their health, treatment, and all other matters important to prisoners. I listened to their concerns and observations. Each of them has various issues that need to be addressed. However, I want to highlight one issue that affects virtually all of them and is not limited to these particular inmates and accused persons. This concerns restrictions imposed by an investigator or prosecutor, which prevent them from communicating with the outside world, except with lawyers or representatives of the Public Defender, and particularly when it involves their minor children - they do not have the opportunity to communicate with their family members,” Ioselian said.

He added that these communication restrictions also apply to former head of the State Security Service Grigol Liluashvili, former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, and one of the leaders of the “Lelo - Strong Georgia” party, Aleko Elisashvili.

“This issue first came to our attention in the case of Levan Khabeishvili. You may recall that his family even held a protest, and I met with his representatives - his mother and spouse. Following that, we investigated this matter further and found that it affects many people. I will refrain from discussing the individuals you mentioned specifically, but I can confirm that most of the people I visited today are affected.

Yes, [Liluashvili and Garibashvili] also face these restrictions. All accused individuals I visited have such limitations. I am not talking about Mikheil Saakashvili, who is convicted and currently does not face such restrictions, but all the accused have these limitations. Aleko Elisashvili also has the same restriction; when I met him, he asked me to draw attention to this issue because he is concerned about meeting with his minor children. This is an issue that I believe must be resolved,” Ioselian told TV Pirveli.