Ruling party and opposition register Amnesty draft laws
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Thursday, April 29
The draft law on amnesty prepared by Georgian Dream has been registered in the Parliament of Georgia. The opposition bloc is working on an alternative version of the bill.
The opposition bloc bill will provide for the victim's consent mechanism and also, according to them, the amnesty should be extended only to those who have already been charged in the events of June 20-21.
The registration of two alternative amnesty bills was decided after a meeting on April 27 since the consensus couldn't be reached.
MP Shalva Shavgulidze said that the opposition, which signed the Charles Michel document, believes that the amnesty should cover the articles under which the protesters (Article 225 of the Criminal Code) and the police (Article 33 of the Criminal Code) are prosecuted.
“We constantly hear that Melia does not want bail or amnesty. He can leave the prison at any time, but he isn't doing so. As for bail and amnesty, in both cases, it is up to Melia to decide. Melia can either accept the amnesty law, or not. We will at least pardon the abuser Melia, this is our decision, whether he should enter the parliament or not, it is his decision,” Kobakhidze said.
According to Kobakhidze, if the opposition does not support the bill and fails to reconcile, it will go against the agreement.
According to the Chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee Anri Okhanashvili, in the project of the Georgian Dream, all crimes committed in connection with the events of June 19-21 will be subject to amnesty. In addition, there will be a reservation and reference to a specific article (Criminal Code 117). Georgian Dream does not share the principle of consent of the victims.
Mamuka Khazaradze, the founder of Lelo, who is a member of the current parliament, has initiated the establishment of a parliamentary inquiry commission to investigate the developments in the vicinity of the parliament in June 2019.
Part of the opposition believes that the law should release only civil activists and the chairman of the National Movement from responsibility, while the ruling party thinks that it should be applied equally to most, but not to the articles protected by the international convention - humiliation or inhuman treatment.
Michelle’s document says that in the interests of Georgia's political stability and for the implementation of the Agreement, ‘the signatories undertake to respond within 2 weeks of the signing this Agreement to two issues perceived as politicized justice, through amnesty and / or measures that will have a similar effect. In particular, within a week after the signing of this agreement, the party represented in the parliament must initiate an amnesty law, which will address all violations and arrests related to the June 19-21, 2019 protests.
EU Delegation to Georgia released a statement on the implementation of the agreement reached on April 19 through EU mediation.
“We look forward to further steps to implement the agreement, in line with the agreed deadlines, to advance Georgia's democratic and rule of law agenda. We once again call on all elected members of parliament to join the agreement and promote its implementation in the interests of Georgia, its citizens, EU-Georgia relations and Georgia's Euro-Atlantic future.”
