4.  The applicant was born in 1955 and lives in Rustavi.
5.  On 6 May 2007 an investigation was opened into a murder.
6.  On 24 May 2007 an identification parade was carried out. The eyewitness to the crime identified the applicant’s son, G.T., as the culprit. The latter was arrested and remanded in custody in Tbilisi Prison no. 5.
7.  On 18 February 2008 G.T. was convicted of murder and sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment.
8.  On 23 June 2008 an appellate court upheld the conviction and sentence in full.
9.  On 28 January 2009 an appeal on points of law by G.T. was declared inadmissible as manifestly ill-founded.
10.  Between 24 May 2007 and 7 July 2008 G.T. was detained at Tbilisi Prison no. 5 and Gldani Prison no. 8. No medical complaints were raised by G.T. while he was at those facilities, nor has the applicant suggested otherwise.
11.  On 7 July 2008 G.T. was placed in Rustavi Prison no. 2.
12.  On 1 December 2008 G.T. complained of ill health. He was examined by a duty doctor, who suspected tuberculosis.
13.  On 8 December 2008 a sputum test was performed at the laboratory of the National Centre for Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.
14.  On 17 December 2008 the sputum test revealed the presence of tuberculosis bacteria, and a susceptibility test regarding first-line drugs for the treatment of tuberculosis was ordered (“the first susceptibility test”). On the same day a doctor from Rustavi Prison no. 2 diagnosed G.T. with tuberculosis, and recommended that he be transferred to a specialist facility.
15.  On 21 December 2008 G.T. was placed in the medical unit of Rustavi Prison no. 2 and enrolled in a DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course) programme, the strategy for the detection and treatment of tuberculosis recommended by the World Health Organization. He started receiving conventional, first-line anti-tuberculosis drugs pending the outcome of the first susceptibility test. The programme in question operated at Rustavi Prison no. 2 between 21 December 2008 and 29 January 2009.
16.  On 21 January 2009 a doctor noted in G.T.’s medical file that his state of health remained serious despite the treatment, and recommended that he be transferred to a specialist medical establishment.
17.  On 29 January 2009 G.T. was placed in a facility in Ksani for prisoners with tuberculosis. The medical note made on that date refers to his tuberculosis as being “multidrug-resistant”, and describes his overall condition as “serious.” G.T. continued to have treatment under the DOTS programme.
18.  On 24 February 2009 the results of the first susceptibility test showed that G.T. was resistant to the first-line drugs for the treatment of tuberculosis. Therefore, a second susceptibility test was ordered in respect of the second-line drugs for the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (“the second susceptibility test”).
19.  On 26 February 2009 G.T. was transferred to the prison hospital in view of a further deterioration in his health. The medical records relating to his time at that facility show that he was suffering from cachexia, and from early March 2009 onwards he complained that he was unable to walk. He continued to receive the previously prescribed anti-tuberculosis treatment with the first-line drugs pending the results of the second susceptibility test.
20.  On 10 April 2009 the results of the second susceptibility test were received by the prison hospital, and they demonstrated that the disease was responding to all but one drug out of the second-line drugs.
21.  On 24 April 2009 it was decided that G.T. should be enrolled in the DOTS+ programme for the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.
22.  On 4 May 2009 G.T. started the prescribed treatment.
23.  On 19 May 2009 G.T. died of a massive pulmonary haemorrhage.
24.  On 19 May 2009 the Investigative Department of the Ministry of Prisons opened a preliminary investigation into premeditated murder. On the same day, a forensic medical examination was carried out to determine the exact cause of G.T.’s death, which confirmed that he had died of a massive pulmonary haemorrhage, a fatal complication of the disease.
25.  The investigating authorities questioned the chief doctor of Rustavi Prison no. 2, a doctor from the Ksani facility for prisoners with tuberculosis, and a doctor from the prison hospital. They stated that G.T.’s treatment under the DOTS programme had been adequate.
26.  On 13 October 2009 the investigator in charge of the case refused to grant the applicant victim status. He noted that no crime had been committed, as G.T. had died of a natural complication of his tuberculosis. The applicant appealed.
27.  On 19 November 2009 a prosecutor from the Chief Prosecutor’s Office who was supervising the investigations carried out by the Investigative Department of the Ministry of Prisons forwarded the applicant’s appeal against the investigator’s refusal to grant her victim status to the director of that department, “for an appropriate response”.
28.  On 22 February 2010 the applicant was granted victim status.
29.  An undated document signed by the prosecutor instructed the investigator to question experts from the National Centre for Tuberculosis and Lung Disease and obtain records concerning G.T.’s health.
30.  On 5 February 2010 two experts from the National Centre for Tuberculosis and Lung Disease were also questioned. They confirmed that G.T.’s treatment under the DOTS programme had been adequate. As regards his involvement in the DOTS+ programme, one of the experts noted that it was only in February and April 2009 that the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis had become possible in the Ksani facility and the prison hospital respectively.
31.  On an unspecified date the investigator sent G.T.’s medical file to the State Regulation Agency for Medical Activities to be assessed. The report issued on 21 May 2010 concluded that a massive pulmonary haemorrhage was a possible lethal complication of tuberculosis. It noted that G.T.’s enrolment in the DOTS programme and later in the DOTS+ programme had been in compliance with the national standards on the treatment of tuberculosis.
32.  On 4 June 2010 the preliminary investigation was terminated on account of the absence of a crime. The investigator relied on the forensic evidence to conclude that G.T. had died of a natural complication of tuberculosis, and also relied on witness statements confirming that his treatment had been adequate.
33.  On 22 July 2010 the Tbilisi City Court allowed an application by the applicant and ordered that the investigation should be reopened in order for G.T.’s sister to be questioned. His sister had allegedly met a doctor at Rustavi Prison no. 2 before G.T.’s official diagnosis and had given him some strong drugs intended for her brother on the basis of an unsigned and undated prescription. That doctor had not been identified or questioned.
34.  On an unspecified date the investigation was reopened. It was closed again on 15 October 2010 after G.T.’s sister had been questioned and after a forensic examination of the unsigned and undated prescription had been carried out to identify whether its author was indeed one of the doctors from Rustavi Prison no. 2. As the handwriting examined in the forensic examination did not resemble the handwriting of any of the doctors at the prison in question, the investigator concluded that G.T.’s sister’s allegations were manifestly ill-founded.
35.  The relevant national and international materials concerning the problem of tuberculosis in Georgian prisons at the material time, the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Georgian prisons at the material time, and the World Health Organization Guidelines for the Management of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis are summarised by the Court in the case of Makharadze and Sikharulidze v. Georgia (no. 35254/07, §§ 44‑48, 22 November 2011).
36.  At the material time, the management of prisons, including the provision of medical care to prisoners was a responsibility of the Prison Department of the Ministry of Prisons (see Order no. 60 of the Minister of Prisons approving the Regulations of the Prison Department, 24 February 2009). The Prison Department and the Investigative Department were subordinated to the Minister of Prisons (see Order no. 60, cited above, and Order no. 152 of the Minister of Prisons approving the Regulations of the Investigative Department, 16 April 2009).