Ruling party official says President has pardoned convicts “based on objective circumstances”

Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said President Mikheil Kavelashvili had pardoned convicts in the latest round of amnesties issued across the country “based on objective circumstances”, contrasting it with the practice used by his predecessors, which he claimed had been a “matter of political or other bargaining”.

Mdinaradze’s comments came after Kavelashvili on Sunday pardoned 613 convicts on the occasion of the celebration of Epiphany.

“Mikheil Kavelashvili has started his [new] career [as the President] with one of the most humane, correct decisions and made many families happy. Not only were the President and his administration involved in this, but the entire system, especially the penitentiary institution of the Ministry of Justice”, the ruling party official said.

Mikheil Kavelashvili is the first President in recent times who has pardoned convicts based on objective circumstances. In all previous cases – during the time of Salome Zourabichvili, [Giorgi] Margvelashvili, [Mikheil] Saakashvili - it was a subject of political or other types of bargaining”, he alleged.

“When people criticise someone, they should remember how Salome Zourabichvili pardoned, for example, the murderer of a 22-year-old police officer”, he said.

We are well aware that when you pardon a murderer of a 22-year-old police officer, it is impossible for the pardon to be carried out without some corruption, be it political or other type of corruption”, the party official claimed.

Mdinaradze further added the ruling team's goal was to “ensure correct execution of sentences from a preventive perspective” and reduce the number of prisoners in order to “get as close as possible to the average European standard”.