PEN Georgia and Georgian writers, publishers and literary figures condemn the decision of the Directorate of Penitentiary Institution No. 8 to impose strict regime on prisoner of conscience, poet Zviad Ratiani, which also includes restrictions on his visits. We remind you that Zviad Ratiani is already serving his sentence in solitary confinement under strict regime conditions and has never violated the prison’s internal regulations.
The document that Zviad Ratiani received from the prison administration on April 6 states that he is a prisoner with an “increased risk of danger” and that this decision was made at a “secret meeting of the risk assessment team.”
Zviad Ratiani’s lawyers will appeal the decision in court, however, before that, we must once again emphasize that the Georgian authorities are treating the best Georgian poet of our time, Zviad Ratiani, with particular cruelty. His illegal imprisonment will certainly remain an extremely shameful page in the country’s history.
