On September 27, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili signed the Amnesty Law initiated by the ruling Georgian Dream party, saying that while amnesty is a humane act, passing such a law just before elections is “indirect voter bribery.”
“Amnesty is essentially a humanitarian act, and it is generally appropriate to grant it after the elections or well before the elections,” reads the press release of the President’s Administration, further noting that “the President took into account the fact that many convicts and their families are waiting for amnesty and signed the “Amnesty Law”.”
The law “On Amnesty” was adopted on September 17. According to the law, the prisoners who committed crimes before July 1, 2024 and are convicted under more than 200 articles of the Criminal Code of Georgia will be granted clemency. The President’s 10-day delay in signing the law was strongly criticized by representatives of the ruling party and used against her on several occasions.
“In fact, Mrs. Salome has turned the institution of the Presidency into a desecration. There are absolutely no rules for her anymore, she thinks that the presidential institution is her backyard… When people are in prison, thousands of people expect that they should have been with their families yesterday and the day before, and they are not with their families because Mme. Salome is too lazy to think about the citizens…” – said Shalva Papuashvili on September 25.
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