Investigator, Charged with Putting Pressure on Minor, Sent to Pretrial Custody

Tbilisi City Court has sent investigator Mariana Choloyan to pretrial detention for exerting pressure on Luka Siradze, 15, who died at M. Iashvili Children’s Central Hospital earlier this week.

The crime is punishable by five to nine years in prison.

Mariana Choloyan was charged at the Caucasus Medical Center, where she was hospitalized after detention.

The Prosecutor’s Office announced earlier that while questioning the minor, she did not follow the Juvenile Justice Code of Georgia and instead forced him to plead guilty.

15-year-old Luka, who committed suicide after being questioned in a police unit on December 10-11, died on December 17. The minor was interrogated within an investigation into the fact of offensive graffiti in the territory of the 'Green School' in Tbilisi. 

His family and lawyer consider that the minor might have been driven to commit suicide after being subjected to psychological pressure at the Didube-Chugureti police station.

By Ana Dumbadze 

Related Story: Investigator Charged with Obtaining Forced Confession from Teenager