The Georgian Parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee approved the Amnesty Bill proposed by the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party with the first reading.

The rapporteur, the Human Rights Protection and Civil Integration Committee Chair, Rati Ionatamishvili, explained the bill comprised 16 articles.

The amnesty envisages the immediate release of 10% of prisoners and others in certain forms, such as reducing prison terms by 1/2, 1/4, or 1/6. The amnesty will comprise approximately 300 articles. It aims to reduce the number of prisoners by 1/3.

The bill will not refer to prisoners convicted for murder, drug dealers, persons charged with sexual assaults, burglaries, terrorism, corruption and other grave category crimes.

“The large-scale amnesty bill, which we call a balanced amnesty, is quite impressive. It concerns 4,839 prisoners and will envisage the immediate release of 1,000 prisoners. The purpose of the amnesty was announced by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze in his annual report delivered in parliament on June 28, and it was the approximation of the prisoners’ number to European standards,” said Rati Ionatamishvii.

The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party introduced the Amnesty Bill on July 11. The bill will finally be adopted in the fall session.