President pardons prisoners for Easter holiday
By Messenger Staff
Thursday, April 28
President Giorgi Margvelashvili has pardoned 95 inmates, the head of the Pardon Commission Zviad Koridze announced on April 27.
Sixty-nine out of the ninety-five will immediately leave prisons, while the remaining twenty-six will have their terms decreased.
Of those who will be released, ten are women and two are minors, while another two women and two minors will have their prison terms decreased together with 22 male inmates.
Koridze said the Pardon Commission had discussed 597 cases in total.
The President is the only authorised person to pardon inmates in Georgia.
The President’s Pardon Commission is composed of ten people including Koridze. The Commission members are mainly lawyers from the civil sector, public figures, the Public Defender and a spiritual representative from Georgia’s Patriarchate.
The group is tasked with discussing cases sent to the Commission by inmates or their families and listing prisoners who they believe deserve to be pardoned.
The President makes the final decision on whether to pardon the inmates or not.
