The Special Penitentiary Service has responded to a statement by Georgia’s third president, Mikheil Saakashvili, concerning opposition politician Irakli Nadiradze, noting that “Irakli Nadiradze and three other inmates housed with him are accommodated in a four-person cell, in full compliance with the requirements of the law and the standards of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT).”

According to the Penitentiary Service, neither Irakli Nadiradze nor any of the other inmates housed with him in the cell has approached the facility’s administration with any complaints.

The agency also says that, at this stage, Irakli Nadiradze is not subject to any restrictions imposed by the facility.

“The Special Penitentiary Service responds to yet another provocative and defamatory statement concerning inmate Irakli Nadiradze, disseminated by inmate Mikheil Saakashvili through social media, which aims to mislead a certain part of the public and discredit the penitentiary system.

The Service clarifies that Irakli Nadiradze and three other inmates housed with him are accommodated in a four-person cell, in full compliance with the requirements of the law and the standards of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT).

Neither Irakli Nadiradze nor any of the other individuals housed with him in the cell has approached the facility’s administration with any complaints.

We also emphasize that, at this stage, inmate Irakli Nadiradze is not subject to any restrictions imposed by the facility. He has the right to make telephone calls and receive visits. Accordingly, he is able to communicate with the outside world without hindrance.

It should be noted that false information concerning other defendants/inmates has also repeatedly been disseminated in the past through inmate Saakashvili’s official social media page, which was used by him and his associates for political speculation.

The Special Penitentiary Service once again calls on everyone to refrain from disseminating such false information and to take into account that statements of this kind may cause discord among inmates,” the statement said.

For reference, Mikheil Saakashvili wrote on social media that a person “arrested” for a violent crime had been placed in the same cell as Irakli Nadiradze. Saakashvili wrote that he was convinced the purpose was intimidation and physical abuse.

“My friend, the most decent and courageous Irakli Nadiradze, who fights corruption, has had a repeat violent offender placed in his cell at Gldani Prison. The ‘Georgian Dream’ is doing things that even Stalin’s regime would not have dared to do. The Communists always kept political prisoners separately. I am convinced that this criminal was placed there for the purpose of intimidation and physical abuse, since Irakli has all this time refused to comply with the demands of Ivanishvili and Partskhaladze’s ‘prosecutor’s office’ in the fabricated ‘October 4’ case. They will not get away with it!” Saakashvili wrote.