President of Georgia Responds to the Minor's Suicide

Georgian President  Salome Zurabishvili has responded to the death of 15-year-old Luka Siradze, who jumped from the ninth floor of a building after being subjected to alleged psychological pressure at Didube police station in Tbilisi last week.

“The death of a 15-year-old boy is a grave tragedy for the whole state. I share the family's pain and wish them strength at this very difficult time,” Zurabishvili writes.

Luka Siradze died at the Iashvili hospital yesterday due to the significant injuries that his suicide attempt brought upon him.

Luka's family claims that the child was forced to admit to committing vandalism on December 10, while on December 11 he altered his testimony to being innocent, not long before jumping from the ninth floor. 

The Georgian Interior Ministry rejects the allegations by the family which state the minor was interrogated twice “in the presence of his mother.” However, the Ministry confirms that Luka spent about 3-4 minutes alone with one of the police officers right before the interrogation, as “the minor had a conflict with his mother and the police officer tried to ease the situation.” 

By Elene Dzebisashvili