MP Davit Matikashvili: Prison service fully equipped to manage Elene Khoshtaria’s health assessment

The Chairman of the Parliamentary Procedural Issues Committee, MP Davit Matikashvili, has stated that the penitentiary service is responding appropriately to Elene Khoshtaria’s health condition. Medical professionals are actively assessing her situation.

“Her health status is currently undergoing an active assessment, and doctors are fully involved. The penitentiary service possesses ample resources to handle the situation independently, and it is doing exactly that. The state provides comprehensive medical treatment to all inmates free of charge, and Khoshtaria is no exception. Naturally, I wish her good health.

However, one must bear in mind that people falling ill is a common and understandable phenomenon. People fall ill both outside and inside penal facilities, and the state provides highly qualified medical treatment and services entirely free of charge. As we understand it, additional medical specialists have also been brought in. They will examine the inmate, after which further consultations will follow,” Matikashvili has said.

Regarding the prospect of a presidential pardon, Davit Matikashvili noted that this remains the sole prerogative of the President.

“A pardon is a presidential prerogative and entirely a matter for the head of state. We cannot interfere with presidential powers; it is entirely up to the President to decide whether the health of what is, in this case, simply an ordinary inmate, warrants such a step. If falling ill were grounds for a pardon, we would have to assume that every single person who becomes unwell in prison should be released. As we all know very well, that is not how it works,” Matikashvili noted.