Georgian minister of corrections and legal assistance Khatuna Kalmakhelidze is to resign after videos showing prisoners in a Tbilisi jail being beaten and raped were broadcast last night.
Ten people have been detained and several are being questioned in connection with the "torture" at Gldani prison Number 8 in the Black Sea nation's capital, the Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.
The videos were sold for a "significant" amount of money through inmates Tamaz Tamazashvili and Tamaz Elizbarashvili, according to the statement.
Tamazashvili's son-in-law, Irakli Garibashvili, heads the foundation of opposition leader Bidzina Ivanishvili, whose Channel 9 was one of two TV stations to run the prison footage.
The accusations come 12 days before a parliamentary vote at which billionaire Mr Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream will challenge president Mikheil Saakashvili's ruling party.
Several hundred people gathered last night outside the Tbilisi Concert Hall, where Mr Saakashvili was attending a performance, to denounce the abuse.
Nationwide rallies are under way today.
In a televised speech today, Mr Saakashvili said he was "very angry" and "shocked" after watching the footage.
He later instructed the police to assume temporary control of all prisons, called for the system to be "overhauled" and ordered emergency visits to be granted to relatives that have gathered outside the jail.
Prime minister Vano Merabishvili told a government meeting that he would take personal responsibility for punishing everyone involved in the abuse.
"The authorities need to ensure full accountability - including criminal accountability - for this abuse and take measures to prevent it from ever happening again," Giorgi Gogia, senior Europe and Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said.
The US urged Georgia to conduct a "thorough and transparent" investigation and to bring those responsible to justice.
Reuters