Situation at Penitentiary Establishments It must be emphasized that in all the aforementioned penitentiary establishments, prisoners kept quiet and there were no incidents in relation to the administration or among themselves. At the time, the situation in all establishments was normal and under control, and the establishments operated as usual. It should also be mentioned that none of the penitentiary establishments introduced any kind of additional restrictions or bans at the time. It was especially important for prisoners held at establishment No. 8 and their families that, during that period, visits of family members were allowed under a 24-hour regime. In addition, a big part of the prisoners had the opportunity to make phone calls to their families and inform them about their state of being. By September 23rd, 2012 new mattresses were taken into the quarantine cell of the penitentiary establishment N3 in Batumi. The situation in Batumi establishment was quiet and no incidents took place there. Furthermore, during that period, penitentiary establishments N1 and N8 in Tbilisi were also provided with new mattresses. Penitentiary establishment N8 in Gldani On September 18th, 2012 after broadcasting of notorious video footages, representatives of the Prevention and Monitoring Department of Public Defenders’ Office paid a special visit to Gldani N8 penitentiary establishment to study the situation there. By the time the situation at establishment N8 in Gldani was calm and no new incident had taken place. Most of the prisoners were asleep. From September 19th, 2012 the situation at the Gldani establishment N8 aggravated even more after prisoners learned from the radio about the footage disseminated by TV channels the night before and members of prisoners’ families and activists of different political forces gathered near the prison. They were trying to communicate with prisoners. Journalists also gathered near the prison. Latter requested to be allowed into the territory of the establishment and have direct contact with prisoners. Such reaction from the public instigated more noise and emotions among prisoners. At the given moment representatives of the Prevention and Monitoring Department were in the establishment. Noise and protests were heard from every cell of every accommodation blocks of the establishment. The PD representatives NPM Report 2012 The video footages broadcasted by the media outlets on September 18th, 2012 caused the disgrace among inmates, their family members and the public. Practically, immediately after their release of those video footages, family members of prisoners blocked the central gate of the penitentiary establishment N8 and organized a demonstration. They demanded immediate access to prisoners to visit them. This time the Georgian Ministry of Corrections, Probation and Legal Assistance allowed an exception and during several days unplanned visits were allowed at all penitentiary establishments when all family members were allowed to visit a prisoner under a 24-hour regime, though assemblies, stir and demonstrations continued for several days in front of the gate of establishment N8 and fence around the establishment. This fact once again demonstrated disadvantage of placement of two institutions on one territory, namely, it was practically impossible to transfer prisoners from establishment N18 to places of their sentence-serving or to city hospitals. Movement of any type of vehicles on the territory of the establishment further aggravated the situation since information was being disseminated that beaten, and sometimes even deceased prisoners, were transported from the territory. The Special Preventive Group carried out an additional visit to penal establishment N8 to study the situation on the ground. The ground for the visit became entry of 2 ambulance cars to the territory of the establishment which further aggravated the situation and caused the concern of persons on the area adjacent to the prison. As a result of the monitoring, it was found that the ambulance vehicle had carried a defendant who was transferred from Tbilisi Republic Hospital. He had been detained by the police on September 16th, 2012, for a crime pursuant under the article 353 of the Penal Code. Public Defender’s representatives met the defendant personally and got acquainted with the documents on his detention. As the defendant also confirmed, he was detained by the police on September 16th, 2012, when he sustained a gunshot wound in the leg area. After detention, the prisoner was transferred to a civilian sector hospital where he was operated, and the same night he was transferred to the prison’s medical unit in an ambulance car. Accordingly, the cause of the entry of the ambulance car into the penitentiary establishment was to transfer of the aforementioned prisoner.