Georgia hands over 101 Iranian prisoners to Iran for repatriation
The handover is part of a bilateral cooperation between Georgian and Iranian judiciary. Photo via Special Penitentiary Service of Georgia.
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Georgia has handed over 101 Iranian prisoners who were serving their time in the country over to Iran as part of a repatriation effort amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The inmates were delivered to Iran's judicial authorities on Wednesday via the Tehran-based Mahan Airways flight and will serve the remainder of their terms in their country of origin.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran said the move was aimed at supporting its citizens abroad, in particular during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
[Iran's stage agencies have a mission] to assist and address the situation of Iranian citizens, especially prisoners abroad. Given the current state of the coronavirus worldwide, this is the most important issue," the ministry said while commenting on the handover.
The repatriation programme has seen cooperation between the two countries over the past 1,5 years. Iran's foreign ministry expressed its gratitude to the Georgian government and relevant agencies for their participation in the bilateral effort this week.
Nearly 800 employees in penitentiary facilities in Georgia will stay at their workplace after their shifts over the following weeks to ensure safety of inmates during the new coronavirus outbreak.
The Government of Georgia has made a decision to suspend direct flights with Iran amid the recent coronavirus outbreak. The Foreign Ministry announced today that this aims to prevent the spread of the virus to Georgia and to protect its citizens.
The Ministry of Justice has announced that the country’s penitentiary system will no longer be staffed with military conscripts.
According to Minister of Corrections Kakha Kakhishvili, Stavros Lambrinidis has recommended to present Georgian achievements in the penitentiary system within the General Debate framework of the UN General Assembly 73rd session since "It would Provide the international community with information on how to implement successful reform in a short period of time.”