President suspends pardoning of prisoners convicted of violent crimes
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The Georgian President has announced today that he is temporarily suspending pardons for individuals convicted of violent crimes in the wake of the murder of a 25-year-old woman in front of her two children by her stepfather in central Tbilisi on April 13.
The stepfather, 45-year-old Vepkhvia Bakradze, who was arrested in 2015 for injuring his wife and violating of traffic rules, was pardoned by Margvelashvili back in May 2017.
The president expressed his deep sorrow over the fatal incident and stated that consultations must be held over the pardon and other similar cases.
The Pardon Commission, acting under my supervision, will continue receiving pardon applications. However, I will not pardon anyone for violent crimes until the consultations are over,” Margvelashvili stated.
The president told the media at a special briefing in the afternoon that the Pardon Commission received a "very positive description” about Bakradze from the Ministry of Corrections.
"The Pardon Commission asked me to pardon Bakradze based on the recommendation of the Ministry of Corrections,” Margvelashvili said.
Georgian Dream parliamentary majority members and the Interior Ministry officials have criticized Margvelashvili for pardoning the individual by commuting his term to six months.
Due to the president’s pardon Bakradze left Tbilisi prison No. 12 in May 2017, instead of in December 2017.
The man who killed his stepdaughter in revenge for his ex-wife refusing to return to him, was detained shortly after the incident on April 14.
His ex-wife stated that the day of murder she and her daughter addressed the police to protect them as Bakradze threatened to kill her or her daughter if she refused to return to him.
Bakradze faces 18-20 years or life in prison.
154 inmates walk free, 72 have prison terms reduced
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Today the President of Georgia pardoned 238 prisoners, but not all of these inmates will be released from jail.
Georgia’s Pardon Commission has a new leader after the previous one stepped down and ran in the municipal elections and was elected a member of Tbilisi City Council.
The Georgian Minister of Corrections Kakhi Kakhishvili has told the Georgian media that he intends to initiate a draft in parliament to restrict "undesired” phone calls by inmates to ex-wives or wives, if the women address the ministry with such a request.
The Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili and Minister of Corrections Kakha Kakhishvili have met today to create a working group, involving the president’s and ministry staff to eradicate the shortcomings in the existing pardon procedure.
The Georgian Deputy Interior Minister Natia Mezvrishvili has stated that 53 individuals were detained for committing violent crimes in 2018 so far.
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili has suspended a moratorium on pardoning individuals who have been convicted for violent crimes, head of the Pardon Commission Zviad Koridze announced today.