The Pardoning Commission temporarily suspends issuance of pardon acts on violent crimes, – Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili made this statement at the briefing held today.

The decision was reasoned by the murder case, which occurred at Barnovi Street in Tbilisi on April 13. The person accused in Barnovi Street murder was pardoned by the President several months ago.

“It is very hard for us to realize the fact that we had motivation to pardon the person accused of such  crime. It clearly indicates the necessity to study all the procedural details on the basis of which we make decisions. We suspend the issuance of pardon acts in relation to violent crimes until the end of consultations with all actors of the pardoning process”, – President said.

Police detained Vephia Bakradze for the murder of a young woman at Barnovi Street in Tbilisi on April 13.

In 2015 the detainee was charged under Articles 117 and 276 of the Criminal Code of Georgia for inflicting intentional grave injury to a family member and violation of traffic safety rules. He was pardoned by President Giorgi Margvelashvili in 2017.