Georgian president pardons 22 convicts

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has pardoned 22 convicts.

Some 14 people, including a woman, have been completely released from serving their sentences in prison and will leave the prisons today, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media, citing the press service of the Presidential Administration.

Seven convicts have had their sentences commuted. One convict, whose punishment is not connected with imprisonment, was also pardoned.

As a rule, the president issues acts of pardoning prisoners on the occasion of Orthodox holidays. On August 2, the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates the memory of the Old Testament St. Elijah the Thesbite prophet.

There are a total of 13 prisons and colonies in Georgia. According to the Ministry of Justice, as of March 1, there were 9,770 people in prison, 356 of whom were women.