On December 5, the Georgian Parliament approved a resolution that envisages the exoneration of “political prisoners” and people “in political exile,” with 77 votes to 14. The United National Movement (UNM) lawmakers strongly denounced the document whereas the Georgian Dream (GD) parliamentary majority embraced it with standing applauses.  The resolution seeks the pardon of 190 prisoners arrested and convicted on diverse criminal charges, and an additional 25 individuals who were sentenced in absentia in Georgia and are presently “in political exile.”

At the beginning of November, the parliamentary committee for human rights established a working group that involved a sizable number of representatives from non-governmental organizations in order to develop the resolution. However, two influential human rights watchdog organizations, the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) and Article 42 of the Constitution, opted out from the process at its very initial stages, lamenting that the tight deadline set by the group did not allow them to scrutinize all the cases thoroughly.

The list of people who will acquire the status of prisoners of conscience is long and diverse. Among them are dozens of participants in protest rallies dispersed by the riot police on May 26, 2011. Despite its withdrawal from the working group, GYLA tabled valuable materials on 49 cases relating to the 2011 spring demonstration that were examined by the organization long before the list was established. According to the NGO, the charges brought against the persons arrested during the protest rallies for the most part involved illegal possession of weapons and drugs, and the deficiency of other evidence gave the cases a political flavor.

Furthermore, the persons listed in the resolution includes former military servicemen and several civilians engaged in the so called Mukhrovani mutiny taking place in early May 2009, which was accompanied by protracted opposition street protests, and cases against seven persons arrested for the 2009-2010 series of explosions, including one in the vicinity of the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi.

The document also addresses cases of alleged espionage on Russia’s behalf. The former diplomat and military analyst Vakhtang Maisaia, sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2010 and persons arrested in connection to Enveri espionage case in the same year, fell under that category. In addition, the resolution foresees the exoneration of a radical Orthodox Christian group of eight persons who verbally and physically abused journalists and guests during a show aired by the Tbilisi-based Kavkasia TV two years ago.

The document also considers some former officials who fled Georgia to escape criminal prosecution, as prisoners of conscience. These include former defense minister Irakli Okruashvili, former governor of the Shida Kartli region Mikheil Kareli, and former head of the border police Badri Bitsadze – who is the husband of ex-parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze.

According to the head of the parliamentary committee for human rights Eka Beselia, the legal mechanisms for managing the process of exoneration could either be incorporated in the law on amnesty by a resolution which is currently under discussion in the Parliament, or by devising other legal means. UNM lawmakers argue that the resolution is a sub-legislative normative act that should correspond to existing legislation in the country. In this case, parliament nevertheless approved the sub-legislative act without having passed the relevant law and now endeavors to improve the created legislative gap by including the resolution in the Law of Amnesty as one of its articles, UNM MPs lament. In their argument, such a move violates the constitution and the principle of separation of powers, since the review of court decisions is to take place in accordance to the list provided by the resolution.

On the contrary, the head of the NGO Article 42 of the Constitution, Tamuna Gabisonia argues that while Georgia’s national legislation on prisoners of conscience is insufficient, a range of international agreements and treaties exist in the system of normative acts in Georgia that could serve as a legislative base for the resolution. Hence it should not be deemed illegal.

Apart from its legal legitimacy, the UNM parliamentary minority vocally questioned the political wisdom of the document. UNM MP Giorgi Kandelaki said that “the release of these people, convicted for such grave crimes like espionage and mutiny, will be an act against the state.” Likewise, MP Chiora Taktakishvili labeled the adoption of the resolution as “one of the most shameful decisions.”

Against strong criticism, however, the GD majority accepted the resolution with standing ovation. The vivid differences between the two parties on values and legislative approaches give rise to skepticism over the process of political cohabitation and mar the already negligible perspectives of cooperation.