FIFTH SECTION
CASE OF KVIRIKASHVILI v. GEORGIA
(Application no. 34720/16)
 
 
 
 
JUDGMENT
 
STRASBOURG
28 April 2022
 
This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Kvirikashvili v. Georgia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:
 Ganna Yudkivska, President,
 Lado Chanturia,
 Mattias Guyomar, judges,
and Martina Keller, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to:
the application (no. 34720/16) against Georgia lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on 27 May 2016 by a Georgian national, Mr Paata Kvirikashvili, born in 1961 and living in Tbilisi (“the applicant”), who was represented by lawyers of the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (London) and the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (Tbilisi).
the decision to give notice of the complaints under Article 3 of the Convention to the Georgian Government (“the Government”), represented by their Agent, Mr B. Dzamashvili, of the Ministry of Justice, and to declare the remainder of the application inadmissible;
the parties’ observations;
Having deliberated in private on 24 March 2022,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
1. The case concerns, under Article 3 of the Convention, the alleged ill‑treatment of the applicant by police officers, and the alleged inadequacy of the investigation conducted in that regard. 2. On 31 August 2014, at around 9 p.m., the applicant was stopped by two police officers, G.D. and L.J., for allegedly violating traffic rules. The applicant objected to being fined, following which the police officers pushed him against his car and G.D. punched him in the head. This episode was recorded on a camera fixed onto the police vehicle. A verbal altercation subsequently erupted, which, according to the applicant, ended in his physical assault by both police officers. That episode was not recorded on a camera although there were people at the nearby petrol station who, according to the applicant, witnessed it. The applicant was then handcuffed and arrested. According to the report on his administrative arrest, because of his resistance the police had to use physical force, as a result of which the applicant hit his head on the ground and sustained injuries to his left cheek and his skull, and tore his T-shirt. 3. The applicant was taken to a police station where, because of the deterioration in his condition, a doctor was called for him. He was subsequently transferred to a temporary detention centre, where he underwent a visual examination. According to the report of the examination, the applicant had excoriations in the area of the skull, right eyebrow, left cheek and ear. He also had bruises across both wrists. As was indicated in the report, he claimed that the two police officers, who had effected his arrest, had physically and verbally assaulted him. 4. On 1 September 2014 the Tbilisi City Court convicted the applicant of disobeying the lawful orders of law enforcement officers and imposed a fine of 600 Georgian laris. The decision was confirmed by the Tbilisi Court of Appeal on 30 September 2014. 5. On 2 September 2014 the applicant, during an interview with a prosecutor, reiterated his allegations of having experienced physical and verbal abuse by both police officers. On the same date he underwent, at his own request, a medical examination which established that he had numerous bruises, haematomas and lesions on his head and body. He further complained of pain in the right part of his chest and right armpit, noting that it intensified when he breathed and moved, and of suffering from numbness in both of his forearms. On 10 September 2014 an X-ray examination showed that his fifth and seventh ribs were broken. The final report, issued by the National Forensic Bureau on 26 September 2014, concluded that the multiple injuries had been caused by a blunt object; they were of a less serious nature and could have been inflicted on the date of the incident. 6. On 24 October 2014 the General Inspection Department of the Ministry of the Interior (“the MIA”), acting on a complaint by the applicant of 4 September 2014, issued a reprimand with respect to both police officers on account of verbally (both officers) and physically (G.B.) assaulting the applicant. 7. On 7 November 2014 an investigation was opened into the applicant’s allegations under Article 333 of the Criminal Code (exceeding official authority). In his interview of 11 November 2014, the applicant described in detail the circumstances of his arrest and his alleged ill-treatment. The applicant’s request to reclassify the alleged acts as inhuman and degrading treatment (Article 1443 of the Criminal Code) was rejected, as were several other of his procedural requests. On 1 December 2015 the applicant was informed of a decision of 24 November 2015 granting him victim status. He was also informed that G.D. had been charged with exceeding official authority on account of punching him in the head, and that no charges were being pressed concerning his beating by both officers. 8. On 18 October 2016 the Tbilisi City Court convicted G.D. as charged on account of punching the applicant in the head. He was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment as the main sentence, and to one year and six months’ deprivation of the right to hold an official position as an ancillary sentence. On 28 December 2016 a plea bargain agreement, concluded between G.D. and the prosecutor’s office, was confirmed by the Tbilisi Court of Appeal, and G.D.’s prison sentence was replaced by a suspended prison term of five years. 9. In August 2015 the applicant brought a civil claim against the MIA, with the police officers acting as third parties, claiming compensation for non-pecuniary damage for unlawful deprivation of liberty and infliction of damage to his health. On 16 May 2018 the Tbilisi City Court found that the applicant had suffered damage to his health during his administrative arrest and awarded him 2,000 Georgian laris (about 660 euros) in respect of non‑pecuniary damage. Without drawing any explicit conclusion concerning the link between the force used by the police officers and the applicant’s fractured ribs, the court noted that although the results of the applicant’s X‑ray examination had been delayed, the applicant had already complained about pain and breathing difficulties on 2 September 2014, and moreover he had acted diligently in requesting a comprehensive medical examination at the earliest opportunity after his release. That decision was confirmed by the Tbilisi Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Georgia on 16 April and 10 September 2019 respectively.

Outcome for Article 3: violation