Communicated on 4 June 2015

FOURTH SECTION

Application no. 3693/13 Makhare DARSALIA against Georgia lodged on 9 January 2013

STATEMENT OF FACTS

1. The applicant, Mr Makhare Darsalia, is a Georgian national, who was born in 1978 and is detained in Tbilisi. He is represented before the Court by Mr T. Gogsadze, a lawyer practising in Tbilisi.

2. The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.

3. On the night of 7 May 2011, after being summoned, the applicant appeared in the Gldani regional police station in Tbilisi to be examined as a witness in relation to the murder of his cousin, D. According to the applicant, at the police station he was subjected to verbal and physical abuse in order to make him confess that he had murdered D. Particularly, he claims that he was stripped and threatened to be raped; the investigator hit him with an ashtray; his request for a lawyer was denied; in protest, he jumped from the second floor inside the police station building; subsequently, the ambulance was called to provide him with emergency care; allegedly the applicant broke his nose and suffered from concussion as the result of the incident.

4. Early in the morning on 8 May 2011 the applicant was formally arrested and charged with the murder of D. as well as theft. His arrest report reads that at the time of the arrest the applicant had injuries on his nose, forehead and right side of his face. On the same day the investigator in the applicant ’ s case ordered a medical expertise in order to establish the cause and severity of the applicant ’ s injuries. The findings of the medical expertise are unknown.

5. On 11 May 2011 the applicant ’ s lawyer, having met the applicant at the place of his pre-trial detention, filed a complaint with the Penitentiary Department of the Ministry of Corrections and Legal Aid and requested the launching of the investigation into the applicant ’ s alleged ill-treatment. Later she was informed that her complaint had been transmitted to the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor of Georgia and had eventually been assigned to a prosecutor in Tbilisi. Subsequently the applicant ’ s lawyer repeatedly enquired with the prosecutor about the ongoing investigation into the applicant ’ s alleged ill-treatment, but in vain.

6. On 25 January and 10 May 2012 respectively the Tbilisi City Court convicted the applicant as charged and then the Tbilisi Court of Appeal upheld his conviction. He was sentenced to sixteen years and six months in prison. On 10 July 2012, by the inadmissibility decision of the Supreme Court of Georgia, the applicant ’ s conviction became final.

7. On 5 November 2012, as the previous enquiries were left unanswered, the applicant sent another letter to the Chief Public Prosecutor of Georgia, again requesting investigation of his alleged ill-treatment.

8 . On 2 February 2013, under an amnesty law, the applicant ’ s sentence was reduced to twelve years four months and fifteen days in prison.

COMPLAINT

9. The applicant complains under Article 3 of the Convention about his ill-treatment by the police between 7 and 8 May 2011 and the lack of effective investigation thereof .

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

1. Was the applicant s ubjected to ill-treatment , in breach of Article 3 of the Convention , by the police between 7 and 8 May 2011 ?

2. Have the domestic authorities fulfilled their obligations vis-à-vis the applicant with regard to the procedural limb of Article 3 of the Convention?