Georgian officials visit two Georgian inmates in Malaysian women’s prisons

Georgian officials have been in touch with two Georgian women, who have been behind bars in Malaysia for the past five years, following both inmates being pardoned by the Malaysian government earlier this year.

Vice Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia Manana Kobakhidze visited one of the two Georgian inmates, who have both been serving a prison sentence in Malaysia for drug-related charges since 2010.

Kobakhidze said the two women were pardoned by the Malaysian monarch and their prison terms had been reduced.

The Georgian official visited inmate Darejan Kokhtashvili to learn about her prison living conditions in the Southeast Asian country.

"When a person is in prison, especially in a foreign country, it’s difficult to talk about being well but Darejan did not express any complaints. She had some problems because of the language barrier in the beginning but now she has learnt the local language and contact has become easier for her,” Kobakhidze said.

Kokhtashvili and another Georgian woman Babutsa Gordadze were detained in Malaysia as they attempted to import illegal drugs into Malaysia in 2010. The two women pleaded not guilty and said they were unaware they were carrying drugs but they failed to prove their innocence.

According to Malaysian law, those found guilty of importing drugs could be sentenced to capital punishment (hanging), so the Georgian side worked extremely hard to ensure the lives of the two women was not at risk.

In 2010 when the women were detained Georgia did not have diplomatic representation in Malaysia so a Georgian delegation from the country’s governmental agencies travelled to Malaysia to work on the case together with Malaysian law enforcers.

Meanwhile in Georgia Gordadze’s husband, who was with the two women when they entered Malaysia in 2010, surrendered to police and took responsibility for the crime. The Georgian side asked the Malaysian police to take the man’s testimony into consideration and to not impose a sentence of capital punishment on the women. Georgia also asked for the women to serve their prison sentence in their home country.

The Malaysian side refused to extradite the women to Georgia and ruled Kobakhidze and Gordadze would serve six and eight years respectively in prison in Malaysia.

Meanwhile the Georgian Parliament official, who is on a working visit to Malaysia, was unable to visit Gordadze as she was being held in a prison in a different Malaysian town but stressed Georgia had an Embassy in Malaysia and an Embassy representative had permanent communication with both inmates.

Kobakhidze added the women were pardoned earlier this year by the country’s monarch, meaning Gordadze would be released in February 2016 and Kokhtashvili would be set free in about 12 months.