I will not pardon Giorgi Rurua - Salome Zurabishvili

I will not pardon Giorgi Rurua, no one can have any impact on me, - said President Salome Zurabishvili regarding the pardon of Giorgi Rurua.

According to her, the culprits [Gigi Ugulava and Irakli Okruashvili] have already been pardoned, which has caused public outrage and now no matter who asks, she is not going to do it.

A lot of questions about me are being asked on one topic today, and I want to answer that topic here, not on the street as usual. Three months ago I made a very difficult decision, difficult to understand for a large part of society or directly unacceptable, and I pardoned two people, these people were not political prisoners but criminals, I forgave them, as criminals. Neither then nor now are there any political prisoners in the country. But I made this difficult decision in the interest of stability in the country. I personally believe that this step will pave the way for constitutional changes, for the reform of the Electoral Code, that is, for peaceful and fair elections and will not allow for the destabilization of forces that do not want either elections or the success of the country. I will not repeat that today. That is how I will answer the question that has been put to me - I will not pardon that man. The Georgian society knows everything about me even better than I do and knows why I will not take this decision on pardon. It also knows that no one and nothing can influence my decision.

The most important thing today is for everyone to start preparing for the elections in order to once again prove the country's unwavering path towards democracy. This is the main goal of my work in this country, and I will not deviate from this path," Zurabishvili said.

Many Western partners  are calling on the President of Georgia to pardon one of the founders of the "Mtavari Channel", Giorgi Rurua.

The court ruling and the sentencing of Rurua were followed in a matter of hours by sharp assessments from the Western partners:

• The issue of pardoning Giorgi Rurua is the prerogative of the President. "It is up to the president to decide," U.S. Ambassador Kelly Degnan said about the pardon of Giorgi Rurua.
   
• Mike Pompeo warned you... but the politicization of the court continues - this is how Euronest Parliamentary Assembly Co-Chairman, MEP Andrius Kubilius, reacted to Giorgi Rurua's verdict.
   
• Salome Zurabishvili should pardon Giorgi Rurua - this is how Jim Risch, the Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee responded.
   
• "Friends of Georgia believe that the arrest and sentence imposed on media owner Giorgi Rurua is of political character," writes European Parliament member Anna Fotyga on Twitter.

Recall that Giorgi Rurua was arrested on November 18, 2019. The investigation accused him of illegal purchase and possession of firearms, but none of the evidence in the case has confirmed the version of the prosecutor. The Rurua defence has repeatedly requested his release over the course of several months of trial, although the court has not issued a decision.

Subsequently, on 30 July 2020, Judge Valerian Bugianishvili sentenced Giorgi Rurua to four years' imprisonment.

International partners also saw political motives in Giorgi Rurua's arrest and called on Georgian authorities to release him and end his political persecution. The release of political prisoners, including Giorgi Rurua, was secured by the 8 March agreement between the authorities and the opposition through intermediaries, although the Dream's promise has not yet been fulfilled.

Following the 8 March agreement and repeated calls from Western partners, President Salome Zurabishvili pardoned political prisoners Giga Ugulava and Irakli Okruashvili on 15 May 2020.