Patriarch says life imprisonment should be annulled
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Tuesday, March 22
Georgia’s Patriarch Ilia II has appealed to the Government to review the issue of life imprisonment, as he says this type of sentence totally demotivates inmates.
The Government, in response, intends to discuss the Patriarch’s initiative, as many Government members consider life sentence an extremely severe form of punishment.
“Life imprisonment means a very hard fate for prisoners. They lose hope for the future. Nothing should be endless in this material world, as only God is eternal. I have held meetings with life-serving prisoners and some of them are on the way to changing themselves. They should be given a chance,” stated the Patriarch.
The Government of Georgia plans to hold a discussion regarding life imprisonment. According to the Head of Human Rights Committee Eka Beselia, the decision to review the rule was made after the Patriarch’s statement.
Beselia stated the Government is working on the amendments referring to the early release for life-serving prisoners.
“The proposal made by the Patriarch is very important and should be discussed. We all understand that the psychological conditions of lifetime imprisoned individuals are very hard,” stressed Beselia.
Beselia underlined that life imprisonment does not make sense as a punishment, because individuals should be given a chance for release.
“If a prisoner’s behavior is acceptable after a certain period in prison, they should be given the opportunity to be released earlier. In the case of life-serving prisoners, after 15 years of imprisonment they have a right to make an early release request,” stated Beselia.
Member of the Republican Party Levan Bezenishvili also shares the Patriarch’s opinion.
“I myself was a political prisoner once. That is why my opinion is not objective. However, I think that life imprisonment should be abolished. Let the time be 300 years, but not unlimited. However, I am not qualified and lawyers should discuss this topic,” stressed Berdzenishvili.
A member of the Parliamentary majority, Tamar Khidasheli, underlined that prisoners already have opportunity to request for an early release.
“The time was shortened from 20 years to 15. After 15 years in prison, all the life-serving prisoners have the opportunity to ask for early release.” stated Khidasheli.
However, some civil sector representatives wrote on social network they were against the Patriarch’s initiative.
