The resignation came after Georgia’s Prosecutor General’s Office recommended the Justice Ministry suspend Giorgi Pataridze in connection with an investigation into the alleged beating of inmate Davit Peikrishvili. The Special Penitentiary Service confirmed to OC Media that Pataridze had been dismissed as head of the service following his resignation on Monday evening, the same day that the recommendation was reported.
The resignation came amid renewed scrutiny of abuse in Georgia’s prison system, which was ignited by the case of Giorgi Davitadze who claimed that prison staff raped and humiliated him in a prison de-escalation room in December 2025.
The Peikrishvili case was transferred from the Justice Ministry’s General Inspectorate to the investigative department of the Prosecutor General’s Office. The agency said that all necessary investigative and procedural measures were being carried out intensively.
‘At the same time, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Georgia has recommended that the Justice Ministry suspend Giorgi Pataridze, the head of the Special Penitentiary Service under the Justice Ministry’, the agency told OC Media earlier on Monday.
The Special Penitentiary Service has categorically denied reports that Peikrishvili was physically assaulted in prison.
An inmate at Georgia’s Gldani Prison, Davit Peikrishvili was hospitalised twice over a span of two days, with his lawyer alleging that fellow inmates beat him. The clinic’s director Zurab Chkhaidze told OC Media that Peikrishvili had wounds on his upper limbs.
According to his lawyer, Peikrishvili said that on 16 October, a newly detained Vato Kipiani was placed in his cell and had assaulted him alongside others.
Marika Pkhakadze, who legally represents Vato Kipiani, has denied the assault allegations. She told TV Formula that Kipiani did not share a cell with Peikrishvili.
The Justice Ministry’s General Inspectorate launched an investigation into the alleged beating on 20 October, before the case was transferred to the Prosecutor General’s Office.
OC MediaLana Kokaia
Who is Davit Peikrishvili?
Davit Peikrishvili was arrested along with his brother Giorgi this September in separate cases involving alleged group violence and extortion. In October, the Prosecutor General’s Office brought additional charges against the brothers, accusing them of laundering approximately ₾10 million ($4.9 million) in illicit funds between 2020 and 2026. If convicted, they face up to 12 years in prison.
Meanwhile, Vato Kipiani, the alleged assailant, was arrested along with Avtandil ‘Katsro’ Bilanishvili, and Shota Kipiani in mid-October in connection with a fight at a restaurant.
Kipiani and the Peikrishvili brothers have a long history of conflict.
In 2020, Georgian authorities accused Kipiani of planning to kill the brothers, however his lawyer said he was released after nine months in detention because the court did not establish his guilt in the alleged plot.
Asked by journalists whether the Prosecutor General’s Office’s move confirmed that an inmate had indeed been placed in Peikrishvili’s cell and beaten, Parliamentary Speaker Shalva Papuashvili rejected the suggestion.
‘No, of course, this does not confirm that. It confirms that the Prosecutor’s Office is conducting an investigation and may approach [the relevant authorities] to carry out whatever procedures are necessary’, Papuashvili said.
The allegations come amid other reports of abuse in Georgia’s penitentiary system. In a separate case, inmate Giorgi Davitadze accused a prison escort guard of rape. One of the guards accused in the case left Georgia’s Penitentiary Service in March; the service said his departure was not in any way connected to Davidatze’s case.
OC MediaLana Kokaia
Davitadze’s family shared an audio recording on Friday, aired by opposition leaning TV Pirveli, in which another inmate, Gela Isashvili, alleged that prison staff had assaulted him after he expressed solidarity with Davitadze.
The Special Penitentiary Service categorically denied Isashvili’s allegations of inhuman treatment at Prison No 6, claiming that the allegations were untrue. The service also accused Isashvili of repeatedly violating prison rules and said an investigation had been launched into an alleged assault by Isashvili against a prison employee in August 2026.