How should we read into the recent incidents that have shaken Georgian prisons?
The crackdown on organised crime in Georgia goes hand in hand with the modernisation of the penal system. Prisons represent the environment where thieves-in-law flourish and retain power as they famously give orders from their cells. However, this last objective appears more problematic as conditions in prisons are reportedly unbearable. To arrest people is one thing, to incarcerate them is another. It was suggested by certain observers that Georgian prisons do not have the capacity to contain the increasing number of inmates following the recent wave of arrests. The government therefore plans to build a new prison in the capital Tbilisi with a capacity for 3.000 prisoners. Prison riots were reported in the last months. One major strike occurred in December 2005 in Kutaisi, traditionally a strong base of the thieves-in-law, and quickly spread to other prisons, while a fight broke out between prisoners and police officers in a Rustavi prison in January 2006. The mutiny in Kutaisi was br
