Georgian President Zurabishvili puts moratorium on inmate pardons to end public turmoil
President Salome Zurabishvili says that pardons will be issued only after the procedure and rules are clarified. Photo: President’s press office.
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Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has declared a moratorium on pardoning prisoners until all rules and procedures are clarified.
The president says that new rules should be elaborated by a working group in parliament.
We have been drafting new rules for pardon since January 2019 which will be handed to the parliament speaker and a working group, with the involvement of all parties in parliament, will gather next week to discuss the rules (offered by us) and make a final decision,” Zurabishvili said.
In doing so Zurabishvili is responding to recent turmoil surrounding two pardons of inmates convicted for intentional murder.
Zurabishvili stated that she made the decision [to pardon the people] on her own and “it is not my style to blame others.”
Independent MPs have requested the names of the people who helped the president issue the pardons, as the special Pardon Commission, which used to discuss the cases of inmates, has not worked since the election of Zurabishvili.
President has pardoned 91 inmates since coming to power. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
In January 2019, a month after the election to the post, Zurabishvili expressed dissatisfaction with the work of the Pardon Commission and proposed the Justice Ministry and other agencies get involved in the pardon issues “to avoid any negative consequences.”
Justice Minister Thea Tsulukiani says that the issue of the active involvement of the ministry in the pardon process “has been frozen” since the summer of 2019.
She stated that the president did not even ask for advice regarding the people who were pardoned on the occasion of Saint Mary holiday at the end of August.
I had the expectation that like New Year’s and Easter pardons the president or somebody from the president’s administration would have requested information regarding the inmates who were pardoned on Saint Mary holiday. However, this did not happen”, Tsulukiani said.
Tsulukiani noted that amongst one of the pardoned convicts was an individual who had been on the run since 2009.
Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria urged the president to ensure “transparency” in issuing pardons and the involvement of people who are well aware of the issues at hand.