MP Gorduladze: President pardoned individuals who admitted and repented their offenses

“The collective United National Movement used to berate people and did everything to prevent them from admitting their offenses and facing the responsibility prescribed by law,” Archil Gorduladze, Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee, said.

According to Gorduladze, Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili pardoned individuals who had been detained during various protests and who had admitted and repented their offenses.

“The state has repeatedly said that if a person admits their offense and repents what they have done, the state will show humanity toward them. The same applies now, when the President exercised his authority — those who admitted and repented their offenses were shown humanity and pardoned by the President,” Gorduladze said.

Commenting on the opposition’s reaction to the pardons, Gorduladze said the “collective UNM” had previously attacked people who faced charges over various offenses.

“They did everything to prevent these people from admitting their offenses and facing the responsibility prescribed by law. Why? Because they are not genuinely interested in these people’s fate. Some of them were encouraged, deceived and placed in a parallel reality. They were then abandoned and forgotten.

“When these people admitted their offenses and the President exercised his constitutional authority, they began berating them and will even launch attacks against them. They will do all this themselves or through those henchmen who are not very numerous anymore,” Gorduladze said.

The comments come after President Mikheil Kavelashvili pardoned 226 people on the occasion of the Mariamoba holiday. According to the President’s Administration, the pardon applies to 217 people serving prison sentences and six people serving non-custodial sentences, while three individuals had their criminal convictions expunged. Among those pardoned were also people detained during various protest rallies.