Influential MP from the ruling National Movement party Giga Bokeria said on June 7 that Public Defender Sozar Subari “has put himself in a very bad situation” after voicing allegations that Chief of the Prison System Bacho Akhalaia could have been linked to the March 27 incident in the Tbilisi prison number 5.

Subari voiced this allegation after hearing testimony by inmate Paata Mamardashvili – described as criminal authority - who told the Public Defender that he was cooperating with the prison officials in fabricating evidence which was designed to prove that the incident was, as officials claim, a well-planned prison riot aimed at destabilizing the situation in the country.

“The society can not trust these ‘conspiracy theories’ voiced by a ‘thief-in-law’ [criminal authority],” MP Giga Bokeria told reporters.

“It is very unfortunate that the Public Defender’s Office, which is a very important institution for us, is putting itself in a very bad situation,” he added.

MP Bokeria also said that it is unclear why the prison officials would be interested in a prison riot.