Due to the high public interest, provoked by the incident that happened in vicinities of the Turtle Lake, General Inspection of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia conducted an inquiry shortly after the video by Lika Kikiani was disseminated in the internet and checked all the circumstances that Lika Kikiani depicts in the video mentioned above. The General Inspection under the MIA seized the videos and interviewed every person involved in the fact. It’s worth noting, that Lika Kikiani herself denied to give any explanations and did not arrive in the General Inspection.
Lika Kikiani had mentioned in several episodes that she was physically abused by up to 20 policemen and named a person – Grigol B. – who got involved in the incident with the aim to help her and got severely beaten by policemen afterwards. It’s worth noting, that the video seized by us clearly shows that Lika Kikiani and Grigol B. freely entered and left the 1st Division of Vake Police building. She also politely waves to the policemen as a farewell sign. According to Grigol B., the policemen did not beat Lika Kikiani and denies being a subject of any physical abuse from the police officers.
According to the cleaner – Rostom O. named by Lika Kikiani, he went to the site of the incident as soon as she called him and he himself became the witness of her detention. He notes that physical abuse did not take place. According to him, he informed the director of the club on the detention of Lika Kikiani.
In the video record Lika Kikiani asserts that while moving to the direction of the Turtle Lake she was seized by 20 policemen and physically abused her, however the extracted video record clearly depicts that she was captured only by two officers and episode of the policeman grabbing her by the throat is not confirmed by the footage.
Lika Kikiani claims that she was severely beaten and received multiple injuries as a result. However, it was established that medics from the ambulance crew did not notice any visual injuries and offered transportation to the hospital which she declined. The mentioned is registered in the ambulance protocol. Female police officer who examined the girl in the police building notes that Kikiani had no injuries or bruises on her body. In addition, we would like to respond to the assumptions voiced in the video record asserting the Kikiani is supposed to appear at the police station in two days with intent to give some time to bruises vanish..
The groundlessness of the above mentioned assumption is also proven by the fact that the girl refused to undergo any further examination at the clinic. As Lika Kikiani states in the record her T-shirt was “torn”, however from the video footage recorded by the CCTV cameras at Turtle Lake depicting her detention and in the police building, it can be distinguished that the T-shirt is worn by her without any damages.
According to the alcohol test and explanation letters, Lika Kikiani was under the alcohol influence. Owner of the club notes that when he first saw Kikiani at the police building he did not notice any injuries on her and was calm. All persons have been interviewed regarding the matter and all of them categorically denied Kikiani’s physical abuse.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs expresses its readiness to send the materials to the prosecutor's office for a prompt and effective investigation.
