Ruling party MP hails president’s pardon of 226 prisoners as a ‘humane act’

Ruling Georgian Dream MP and Chair of Parliament’s Human Rights Committee Rati Ionatamishvili has described President Mikheil Kavelashvili’s pardon of 226 prisoners as a “humane act”, saying it gave people who had admitted and repented their crimes an opportunity to return to their families and resume a law-abiding life.

Kavelashvili pardoned 226 people on the occasion of Mariamoba, the Dormition of the Mother of God, on August 28. The pardon applied to 217 people serving prison sentences and six serving non-custodial sentences, while three people had their criminal records expunged. The Presidential Administration said the decision was based on the principles of humanism and state interests.

“This was a humane act by the head of state and the state, which gave those people who admitted and repented their crimes a chance to return not only to their families, but also to a law-abiding way of life,” Ionatamishvili said while addressing Parliament’s plenary session.

He added the pardon is a continuation of what he described as the “humane policy” pursued by the Georgian Dream government.

“Let me remind you that, based solely on the balanced amnesty law adopted by the Georgian Parliament in 2024, more than 1,000 convicts left penitentiary institutions and more than 7,000 probationers were affected,” Ionatamishvili said.

He added that the law’s overall impact was even greater because it created additional opportunities for the use of non-custodial sentences.

Ionatamishvili also criticized those who have questioned the government’s approach to criminal justice.

“Obviously, we cannot accept criticism from those who had 24,500 prisoners locked up in prisons in 2012 and spent humiliatingly little on each prisoner - less than GEL 300 per month,” he said.

He claimed spending on prisoners has since increased significantly and currently approaches GEL 2,000 per prisoner per month.