27 December 2017, 13:01
187 prisoners pardoned in Georgia
The Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili has timed the pardoning to the New Year. 123 prisoners will quit their colonies today.
Those pardoned include three minors and 12 women, said Zviad Koridze, the chairman of the pardoning commission. According to his story, almost half of the prisoners had been convicted for drug-related crimes.
In total, the commission examined 1182 convicts' cases; there was no former Prime Minister Vano Merabishvili's case among them, Mr Koridze announced on air of the "Rustavi-2" TV Channel.
Mr Merabishvili was convicted, among other things, for the dispersal of the protest action in May 2011, and for the murder of Sandro Girgvliani, an employee of the United Bank of Georgia. His defence claims the political nature of his persecution.
The today's pardoning is the fifth in Georgia this year. Earlier, on October 12, the President amnestied 226 prisoners.
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.
Author: Galina Gotua Source: CK correspondent
