President scrutinizes pardon for inmates with life sentences

Georgia’s President and the Pardon Commission have discussed the possibility of offering a pardon to inmates serving life sentences in Georgian prisons.

The Pardon Commission and the President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili will discuss humanitarian grounds to pardon inmates sentenced to life imprisonment, head of the Pardon Commission Zviad Koridze told Georgian newspaper Kviris Palitra.

The President’s Administration has already started working on this issue and a meeting will be held in the next few days, Koridze said.

"In the coming days we will meet with the President and discuss several things. The issue of pardoning prisoners who are sentenced to life imprisonment is one of them. We have many prisoners in this situation, including three women,” he said.

"We want to show more humanity towards them but I believe if there is no engagement from the media and civil sector, it will be hard to provide our society with this information in a proper way,” Kordize said.

When asked whether pardoning prisoners with life sentences would cause further aggression in society, Koridze said: "If almost 85 prisoners serving life sentences fulfil their duties, this means that full public calmness will continue in the country”.

"I want to highlight that among 460 pardoned and released prisoners, only eight were returned back to prison … which is a reflection of the country's criminal situation.”

Since December 2013, the President and the Pardon Commission have pardoned 660 inmates.