The Georgian Dream party has introduced a bill on amnesty in parliament, aiming to cover crimes committed before July 1, 2024. Chairman of the Human Rights Protection Committee, Rati Ionatamishvili, stated that the draft law includes a provision for reducing sentences by 1/6, thereby seeking to maximize the number of beneficiaries eligible for amnesty.
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The draft also includes provisions for reducing sentences by ½ and ¼, complete exemption from responsibility and punishment.
"Amnesty introduces a special approach to probationers, and the one-year reduction of conditional sentences will affect approximately 7,000 persons, which is a novelty compared to previous amnesty projects," Ionatamishvili said.
Amnesty will not apply to persons convicted of murder, drug dealing, sexual crimes, robbery, terrorism, corruption, official crimes, or offenses associated with criminal organizations, conventional crimes, trafficking, and other serious and especially serious crimes.
Georgian Dream will introduce the amnesty law in the first reading during an extraordinary session of parliament in July and expects final approval in September.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced the amnesty during his speech in Parliament on June 28. According to him, there are approximately 10,000 prisoners in penitentiary institutions today, which he considers suboptimal. "It would be desirable to reduce the number of prisoners by at least one-third, and we believe that the prepared amnesty law will significantly contribute to achieving this goal," he said.
Georgian Dream has announced the amnesty ahead of parliamentary elections. The Gakharia for Georgia party proposed extending it to all individuals arrested and fined for protesting against the Russian Law.
