Georgian President pardons 15 inmates, including six Ukrainian citizens

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has pardoned 15 inmates, including six Ukrainian citizens, on the 33rd anniversary of the April 9 tragedy in Tbilisi.

The Presidential Administration said the pardoned inmates, seven of whom are women, would leave their penitentiary institutions on Saturday.

The decision came on the anniversary of April 9, 1989, when Soviet troops attacked peaceful protesters in Tbilisi, killing 21 and injuring hundreds.

The date has been etched into the minds of Georgian citizens and is remembered as a day of national unity. It is also recognised as a public holiday in Georgia. 

April 9 also marks the restoration of Georgia’s independence, as the Georgian legislative body passed the declaration of independence on the date in 1991, based on the results of a referendum on March 31 that year, where an overwhelming majority of Georgians voted for the country to secede from the Soviet Union.