Lelo opposition claims gov’t ‘bribing voters’ through resumption of long visits for prisoners

Lana Galdava from the Lelo opposition party says that the government decision to resume long visits for inmates starting September 27 serves the goal to ‘bribe inmates and their families’ ahead of the October 2 municipal elections. 

She says in her Facebook post that inmates have been banned from long visits for one year and seven months and the Special Penitentiary Service of Georgia decided to remove the ban prior to the elections. 

The Special Penitentiary Service says that the restriction for long visits was lifted per the recommendation of the country’s health officials. 

The agency says that  80% of inmates have received one dose of the vaccine since May 2021, while 65% of prisoners have been completely vaccinated.