Torture Charges Filed Against Former Georgian Police Official

TBILISI -- Criminal charges related to the alleged torture death of a suspect in custody have been filed against a former Georgian Interior Ministry official.

The Georgian Prosecutor-General's Office said in a statement this week that the latest charges against Megis Kardava are related to the death in custody of 21-year-old Eldar Kobalia.

Investigators say Kardava and his associates tortured Kobalia with electric shocks in an effort to force him to confess to terrorism crimes in 2011.

Kardava, who is on Interpol's wanted list at the request of Georgian authorities, was charged in absentia in a similar case last month.

Kardava was police chief in the western province of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti.

His current whereabouts are unknown.

Tbilisi issued an arrest warrant for him earlier last year.


With reporting by civil.ge