On January 23, 2015 GYLA, in cooperation with partner organizations European Human Rights Advocacy Center (EHRAC) and Partnership for Human Rights filed Salome Jorbenadze’s case to ECtHR. Salome Jorbenadze, 19 years old, was killed in the park in Zestaphoni on June 25, 2014. Her ex-husband, Sergi Satseradze, officer of the Zestaphoni regional police killed her with a service gun. Salome is among 25 women slaughtered by their partners or ex-partners in 2014. Salome had a child, 3 years old.
Salome Jorbenadze’s and Segi Satseradze’s relationship started with violence. In 2011 Salome Satseradze, 17 years old, was kidnapped by Sergi Satseradze under threat of a firearm. Zestaphoni police did not assist her parents in finding a daughter and she became Satseradze’s wife. In the course of their marriage, as well as after divorce, Sergi inflicted systematic physical and psychological violence and threatened her with a gun. Alimony and mistrust was the reason of their conflicts. On July 25, 2014 Sergi Satseradze killed Salome Jorbenadze in the park of Aghmashenebeli street, in Zestaphoni. He is charged with premediated murder (Article 108 of the Penal Code).
Prior to the fatal incident, Salome had applied to Zestaphoni police, prosecutor’s office and the General Inspection of the Ministry of Interior and demanded protection from the perpetrator. Nevertheless, no legislative measures were carried out for termination of her ex-husband. Response of the Police and the Prosecutor’s Office to Salome’s allegations were gender discriminative. Police fell short to assess seriousness of reported violence, did not record facts of violence in the protocol and failed to carry out further measures for its prevention. Moreover, police responded with gender-related humiliating comments on Salome’s statements. Law enforcement representatives were mainly Sergi Satseradze’s co-workers and close relatives. Prosecution, in violation of legislative requirements, failed to launch investigation on the facts of intimidation and violence and did not recognize violence against a female as an adequately serious offence for launch of criminal persecution. Further, General Inspection of the Ministry of Interior, obliged to protect public from violence and unlawfulness, appeared completely ineffective for termination of Sergi Satseradze’s violent behavior.
GYLA complains about violation of Article 2 (right to life), Article 3 (prohibition of torture), Article 8 (privacy protection) and Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination). If case of successful litigation, it will be the first case implying violence against women filed by Georgia to ECtHR.
