The Parliament of the Republic of Georgia approved a bill initiated by the Georgian Dream party today. The bill proposes to release prisoners who committed offenses before July 1, 2024 with few exceptions.
The bill was approved by the legislature in its first hearing with 82 votes in favour and 0 votes against. The amnesty envisaged by the bill envisages either full exemption from liability, a reduction of sentence by half, one-quarter, or one-sixth, a one-year reduction in probation for probationers.
However the bill does not cover individuals convicted of certain serious categories of offense. These categories include murder, drug dealing, abuse of power, involvement in the criminal underworld, conventional crimes, trafficking, sexual crimes, robbery, terrorism, corruption, and other severe offenses.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze revealed this amenity plan during the presentation of his first report on June 28. In it he expressed concern about prisons overcrowding and desired to reduce the number of prisons “close to the European figure.” According to the latest data Georgia’s prison population is “very high” more than 25 percent higher than the median European value. The ruling regime of GD came to power with the promise to reduce Georgia’s prison population.
It is worth mentioning that the opposition Girchi party introduced the bill to reduce the number of prisoners which was supported by many other parties, but GD decided to go ahead with its own version. There is dissatisfaction among some of the prisoners who are not eligible for release. The reports of hunger strikes have been reported in the Kutaisi, Rustavi (women’s prison) and Ksani correctional facilities against the bill.
Natia Mezvrishvili who is former deputy interior stated that the amnesty is designed to benefit primarily the probationers and “thugs” who were used by GD against protestors. She also accused the Government to work for political gains as these prisoners can be easily convinced. At the same time she added that this is a totally illogical amnesty introduced by the ruling party without any scientific research.
