Communicated on 6 May 2015

FOURTH SECTION

Application no. 15355/15 Zaza MAMULASHVILI against Georgia lodged on 11 March 2015

STATEMENT OF FACTS

1. The applicant, Mr Zaza Mamulashvili , is a Georgian national, who was born in 1970 and is detained in Tbilisi . He is represented before the Court by nine lawyers: Ms K. Shubashvili , Ms N. Jomarjidze , Ms T. Abazadze , and Ms T. Dekanosidze , lawyers at the Georgian Yong Lawyers ’ Association (“GYLA”) in Tbilisi, and also by Ms J. Gavron , Mr P. Leach, Ms J. Evans, Mr V. Gregoryan , and Ms K. Levin , lawyers at the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre in London .

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

3. On 29 August 2012, while serving his prison term in no. 18 prison medical establishment (“the prison hospital”), the applicant was severely beaten in the office of the deputy director of the prison hospital by the deputy director himself and four guards. After the beating, the applicant was taken back to his cell. According to the applicant ’ s submissions, corroborated by the statement of his former cell-mate who was present when the applicant was returned to his cell, after the beating the applicant could hardly walk; he suffered from pains all over his body, especially along his lumbar spine; the applicant ’ s repeated requests for medical examination were initially ignored; the medical examinat ion (tomography) conducted on 5 October 2012 revealed that the applicant had sustained a trauma in his spine (protrusion of the fourth vertebra of his lumbar spine).

4. On 18 December 2012, upon receiving the applicant ’ s letter of complaint about the alleged beating , GYLA forwarded his letter to the Chief Public Prosecutor of Georgia. In response, GYLA was informed that the applicant ’ s complaint had been transmitted to the Tbilisi ’ s Gldani ‑ Nadzaladevi regional office of the prosecutor. The applicant ’ s alleged beating was then included in a large-scale criminal investigation covering many episodes of alleged ill-treatment of inmates in, inter alia , the prison hospital.

5. On 17 January 2013 the applicant was released from prison under an amnesty law.

6. Between January 2013 and November 2014 , GYLA, representing the applicant, repeatedly enquired with the respective prosecutor about the progress of the investigation as well as requested to grant the applicant the victim status, which would allow him to be involved in and receive information about the ongoing investigation; the request was also made to conduct an expert medical examination of the applicant. GYLA also provided the prosecutor with the names of the alleged perpetrators of the beating and several witnesses who would corroborate the applicant ’ s story. Similar letters were addressed to the Chief Public Prosecutor of Georgia in which GYLA also raised complaints about the inaction of the prosecutor in charge of the applicant ’ s case and the failure to grant the applicant the victim status.

7. In March 2014 the applicant was examined as a witness, but he was not granted the victim status in the ongoing investigation.

8. By his most recent letter available in the file dated 5 December 2014, the prosecutor informed GYLA that no separate enquiry into the applicant ’ s alleged ill-treatment was underway; his case was still part of the aforementioned large-scale investigation; since the applicant did not have the victim status, he was not entitled to receive more detailed information about the ongoing investigation.

9. After his release, the applicant underwent medical examinations. The applicant ’ s treating doctor – a manual therapist – concluded that the applicant ’ s problems with spine could have been caused by beating. The psychiatrists of the Rehabilitation Centre for Victims of Torture – “Empathy”, having assessed the applicant ’ s mental condition, concluded that the applicant, being a victim of ill-treatment, suffered from post ‑ traumatic stress disorder (report of 30 December 2013). According to the applicant, to date he suffers from pains in his back and has sleep disorder.

COMPLAINTS

10. Claiming that ill-treatment of prisoners was a systemic problem in Georgia at the material time, t he applicant complains under Article 3 of the Convention about his ill-treatment on 29 August 2012 in no. 18 prison medical establishment and the lack of effective investigation thereof.

Q UESTION S TO THE PARTIES

1. Was the applicant been subjected to ill-treatment , in breach of Article 3 of the Convention , by prison staff on 29 August 2012 ?

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? Did the authorities explore the applicant ’ s allegation of having been ill ‑ treated due to the fact of having lodged his previous application with the Court (see Mamulashvili v. Georgia ( dec. ), no. 71672/10, 6 May 2014 )?