Protests
were sparked in Georgia after footage showing the torture and rape of inmates
in the capital's main prison was aired by two television channels supportive of
the opposition.
Georgian
authorities have put a prison guard on Interpol's wanted list after he filmed
videos of torturing inmates that hit the government ahead of polls next week,
media reported today.
Former
jail guard Vladimer Bedukadze says he made the prison videos and then fled to
Belgium before releasing them, but he is wanted by the authorities for alleged
involvement in the abuse of inmates.
Bedukadze
says he made the videos of guards beating and raping male prisoners in a bid to
stop abuses.
But
prosecutors say he was paid to do it and should be arrested for allegedly
"conducting activities constituting inhumane and degrading treatment and
torture".
The
torture scandal erupted ahead of elections to be held Monday in which President
Mikheil Saakashvili's governing party faces a strong challenge from an
opposition coalition led by the billionaire tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Four
more prison officials were arrested for alleged torture on Thursday, taking the
number detained so far to 16.
"Within
the framework of the ongoing investigation as regards Penitentiary Department
employees, four people were arrested at dawn for the inhumane treatment,
torture and rape of inmates," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
The men
were accused of committing the crimes in a jail in Georgia's second city of
Kutaisi, the statement said.
Two
ministers were forced to resign over the scandal and the authorities have
promised a complete overhaul of the jail system to eradicate abuses.
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