The Special Penitentiary Service has responded to a news report which has recently been broadcast by issuing a statement. According to the body, On 13 September 2020, the TV Company Pirveli disseminated information saying that some inmates, including B. Gelkhauri, are not provided with timely and adequate medical services. The news report said that Gelkhuri swallowed a nail clipper in his cell after he was subject to extreme psychological pressure. The inmate's parents are asking for help from the Minister of Justice, claiming that he may die unless timely medical assistance is provided.
The Special Penitentiary Service maintains that the disseminated information is false since the convict is suffering from health problems because he is inclined to self-harm, after which he categorically refuses to accept any medical assistance. According to the body, allegation saying that the convict chose to swallow the nail clipper and, by doing so, expressed his protest against the penitentiary service employees subjecting him to psychological pressure is also false. Actually, per the body, its staff members have saved the inmate's life many times and have not ceased to make efforts to help him since.
Per the statement, B. Gelkhaiuri has been behind bars since 2013 for perpetrating two crimes, out of which one is connected to group violence: he was reportedly involved in prison violence against another inmate, and since 2015, Gelkhauri has repeatedly declared the hunger strike in protest of verdicts against him and swallowed different items.
On 23 August 2020, the convict suffered from stomach aches and nausea, and shortly after this incident, he was hospitalized.
Physicians found the nail clipper in his body, a bleeding ulcer, and several other health issues. They managed to stop bleeding but failed to remove the nail clipper from his body. The inmate was then taken to the corresponding department and subject to further treatment. The bleeding did not reoccur, and Gelkhauri himself refused to undergo repeated medical procedures to have the nail clipper removed. Following this, on 27 August 2020, he was released from the clinic. However, on 28 August, Gelkhauri suffered from stomach pain again, vomiting, and general weakness and was taken to the civil clinic, in which he is now under medical supervision.
