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.
Tweet 
Share
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.
Ruling Georgian Dream party members say that legal changes are needed to specify all the procedures and preconditions for the presidential pardon of inmates.
The statements come after two scandalous pardons by President Salome Zurabishvili, one when she pardoned a man who was sentenced for the murder of a police officer and another, which took place two weeks ago, when a man also convicted for murder was pardoned.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has made her first official comment on pardoning an individual who has been charged with murdering a police officer. Zurabishvili said yesterday that she is sorry that the act of pardoning, which is a ”human act” in its nature, has become the cause of misunderstanding.
The candidate for interior minister and current head of the State Security Service Vakhtang Gomelauri said it is unacceptable for him to pardon an individual who has been charged with murdering a police officer.
Eight prisoners left the penitentiary facilities immediately on May 24. The other four, including a female, were on probation and have been released from all restrictions.
The Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation looking into possible misuse of authority in the pardon cases of former convicts Ramaz Devadze, Aslan Bezhanidze, Zurab Nadiradze and ‘others.’ All of the three individuals, convicted for murder, have been pardoned by President Salome Zuravbishvili.
Ruling Georgian Dream party MP Giorgi Volski says that if necessary, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili will be summoned for questioning per the ongoing investigation into pardon issues.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili made her first televised comments on the possible release of convicted archpriest Giorgi Mamaladze, after the Holy Synod requested her to do so.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili will issue a pardon decree on Orthodox Christmas on January 7 after a several-month moratorium on acts of amnesty.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has pardoned five inmates for Christmas, with convicted archpriest Giorgi Mamaladze not on the list. It is the first pardon act issued by the president after she declared a moratorium on pardoning prisoners in September 2019, following a turmoil surrounding two pardons of inmates convicted for murder.