Lawyers ask President to pardon convicted archbishop

Interpresnews

The lawyers of Archbishop Giorgi Mamaladze, convicted in the so-called cyanide case, addressed the President of Georgia with a request to pardon the archbishop. According to lawyer Giorgi Pantsulaia, they requested President Giorgi Margvelashvili to pardon the clergy as the whole society saw what kind of legal irregularities exist in the case.

When asked of whether he has expectation that the President will pardon Giorgi Mamaladze, Pantsulaia replied by saying that he cannot imagine that the President will make a wrong decision and will not pardon the archbishop. 

"I, a citizen of this country who knows the content of this petition, cannot imagine that the President of Georgia will not react correctly and will not pardon archbishop Giorgi Mamaladze. The President of Georgia should not find it difficult to take this step as if nobody will have a feeling of protest if Giorgi Mamaladze is pardoned," - said Giorgi Pantsulaia.

In addition, according to another lawyer Mikheil Ramishvili, the petition for pardoning does not mean that Giorgi Mamaladze pleaded guilty. 

According to the Chairperson of the Pardon Commission Zviad Koridze, the petition for pardoning archbishop Giorgi Mamaladze will be discussed at the nearest meeting of the Commission. 

According to him, first the petition will be sent to the penitentiary institution within a few days, where the document should be signed by the defendant.

Archbishop Giorgi Mamaladze was convicted of murder attempt and was sentenced to 9 years in jail on September 5, 2017. The Appellate Court upheld the decision of the city court. The Supreme Court did not accept the cassation lawsuit of the defense lawyers.