Parliament Approves Draft Law on Amnesty in the First Reading

Parliament has approved the draft law on amnesty in the first reading. The bill was supported by 82 deputies.

Only members of the Georgian Dream participated in the discussion and voting of the bill, as the opposition does not recognize the results of the parliamentary elections and refuses to enter parliament.

The law will apply to those who committed offenses before December 11, 2020.

Based on the initial version of the bill, the amnesty should apply to crimes under Article 44, and up to 800 prisoners will be allowed to leave prison, however, as the author of the bill, the chairman of the Human Rights Committee, Mikheil Sarjveladze, said during the first reading, up to 20 articles will be added to the bill, including drug crimes and tax and economic crimes.

By Ana Dumbadze