Interior Minister denounces President’s pardoning of activist sentenced for throwing Molotov cocktails at police in 2023

Georgian Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri on Friday said President Salome Zourabichvili’s pardoning of Lazare Grigoriadis, a 21-year-old activist who was sentenced to nine years in prison for throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at police officers and setting fire to a police vehicle during March 2023 protests in Tbilisi, was an “incitement to violence” and a “wrong” decision.

Gomelauri was speaking after Zourabichvili last week said she would pardon Grigoriadis, who was in prison sentenced for the actions during the protests against a proposed bill on transparency of foreign influence.

“Several police officers were set on fire - that is, the so-called Molotov cocktails were thrown at them - which is very bad. I asked my colleague to find out if a police officer can be injured or assaulted and then pardoned by the President of any country”, the Minister said.

“Of course, this is encouraging [violence] and wrong. An assailant on a police officer, especially such an obvious one, who says, ‘yes, I threw it, and it is very good’ is now pardoned and released”, Gomelauri added.

The official noted another past case where “there was a murderer of a police officer” who was arrested and sentenced to 12 years before being pardoned by the President, and called the examples “completely unacceptable to me”.