President pardons 111 inmates

Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili has pardoned 111 prisoners today.

42 inmates will be released by the end of the day, while 69 others will see their sentences commuted.

Of the prisoners who will leave prisons today, three are women and one is a minor.

Four women and six minors are among the convicts who have had their sentences commuted.

Head of the President’s Pardon Commission Zviad Koridze said that the commission did not give a positive recommendation to the president to pardon archpriest Giorgi Mamaladze, who has been sentenced to nine years in prison for attempted murder of the patriarch’s secretary.

Koridze said that the consent of all members of the commission was mandatory for the positive recommendation, while several members were against the pardon.

Koridze also commented on the issue of former Interior Minister Ivane Merabishvili after the European Georgian opposition party addressed the president to pardon the former official.

Koridze stated that nobody had addressed the commission with the request to pardon Merabishvili, who is sentenced to several years in prison for abuse of official authorities and berating an opposition lawmaker.

The president makes his decision regarding pardons based on the recommendations provided by the Pardon Commission.