Amnesty Law to Go into Effect on January 12

Interpresnews

The new amnesty law will go into effect on January 12, and political prisoners will be the first to leave prisons. Minister of Corrections and Legal Assistance Sozar Subari, Minister of Justice Thea Tsulukiani and Chairwoman of Parliament’s Human Rights Committee Eka Beselia made statements about the new law at a joint press conference.

Beselia said that unless the president signs the document by January 11, the chairman of Parliament will put it into effect on January 12.

“Unless the president signs the document on January 11,  the law will be executed on January 12 by the parliamentary chairman and will be published in the Legislative Herald on the same day, after it goes into effect. We, the legislative body, will do our utmost to execute the law in a timely manner. We envisaged in the Amnesty Law that political prisoners be released without court involvement, so they will immediately leave the prisons,” Beselia said.

Sozar Subari clarified implementation procedures at the press conference, saying that political prisoners will start leaving penitentiary establishments on January 13.

“People convicted on political grounds will be released the day after the law goes into effect. On January 13, the doors of all the prisons will simultaneously open and all 190 political prisoners will leave their custodies. This procedure will last about an hour,” said Subari.

As for other prisoners, the minister clarified that the parliament gave a two-week period to the Ministry of Penitentiary to forward relevant cases to the courts.

“We have a two-week period to forward prisoners’ cases to the courts but we are going to start the process from the very first day. We hope a term of two months, fixed for the release of amnestied prisoners, will be enough for the court to discuss all cases. A two-month term does not mean that prisoners will only be released after two months—the process will start on the very first day and last two months,” said Subari.

As for political refugees, Minister of Justice Thea Tsulukiani said the chief prosecutor’s office will take up their cases.

“From January 14, the prosecutor’s office will solicit courts to annul preventive measures and impose other sanctions on political refugees. As for other prisoners, the prosecutor’s office will follow the government’s lead and carry out everything necessary for the release of other prisoners within two weeks. The process will be carried out quickly, and, as we have already said, political prisoners will be the first to leave penitentiary establishments. Other prisoners will follow,” said Thea Tsulukiani.