Several opposition parties adopted a joint statement earlier today, after making an election deal with the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party yesterday, stating that despite the agreement on the 2020 elections, the ruling party and the opposition still fail to agree about the status of people ‘detained on political grounds.’
The opposition believes that the people are political prisoners which is denied by the ruling party. However, in yesterday’s joint document we agreed that the issue should be settled in a way that none of political parties have the feeling that justice is being used to achieve political goals,” the statement said.
The opposition has urged the president and all responsible state agencies to use all levers for the release of Gigi Ugulava, Giorgi Rurua, Besik Tamliani and Irakli Okriashvili.
To make the political process reliable and for the fulfillment of the election agreement it is important the people not to be returned to prison with the use of other cases,” the opposition said.
The ruling party says that there are no politocal prisoners in Georgia. Photo: Parliament of Georgia press office.
The ruling Georgian Dream party has denied the statements of the opposition that per the election agreement yesterday several opposition leaders will be released from prison.
No concrete decisions have been made concerning the individuals the opposition has mentioned. We have made a general agreement on the issue that justice must be free from political interference, which has always been the priority of the Georgian Dream government,” Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze said.
President Salome Zurabishvili stated that the presidential pardon has its rules and ‘if I consider that Ugulava should be released, I will release him after familiarising myself with the case. Everyone is equal before the law and the rules equally touch all who requests pardon.’