Is the Georgian president facing impeachment for pardoning convicted murderers?

The scandal concerning the list of prisoners pardoned by President Salome Zurabishvili continues.

The parliamentary secretary of the President of Georgia Dmitri Gabunia was called in for questioning by the prosecutor’s office

The scandal began after August 28, on the day of the Holy Virgin, when Zurabishvili paroned 34 prisoners.

• Who do Georgians trust? Key figures from the NDI report

• How did two murderers end up on the Georgian president’s pardon list?

The list of persons pardoned was classified, but journalists first found out that there were two prisoners who were serving sentences for aggravated murders, and later it became known that there was a third similar case.

One (Ramaz Devadze) was convicted of the murder of a 22-year-old policeman at a Batumi night club in 2014;

The second (Alsan Bezhanidze) – for the murder of an 18-year-old student committed 12 years ago. Bezhanidze managed to be detained only in 2016. All these years he has been hiding from police. 

The third pardoned convict (Zurab Nadiradze) was convicted of a murder committed in 1994 during a fight in Tbilisi. Until 2017, Nadiradze was also in hiding. 

After news about these three cases got out, the Georgian president came under fire. At the same time, representatives of the authorities joined in criticising Zurabishvili, along with the opposition and representatives of NGOs.

On September 20, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Georgia launched an investigation into the pardon by President Zurabishvili of those convicted of murder. According to the agency, the investigation was launched into a possible abuse of authority in the pardon process.

The main question being asked is how and on whose recommendation were prisoners were convicted for murder pardoned.

“When there are women, mothers, young people convicted of much less serious crimes in our penitentiary institutions, to what extent did those 34 out of thousands who asked the president deserve a pardon?” said the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister Infrastructure and Regional Development Maia Tskitishvili.

The opposition talks about the existence of corruption schemes. Some politicians, as well as family members of the victims, point out the involvement of Dmitry Gabunia, who previously worked as lawyer, in the scandalous pardon.

“When it comes to pardoning a person, interested people get in touch with Dmitry Gabunia and make a financial deal with him. That is, at what price this or that person can be pardoned. Our source has no information about whether Gabunia is discussing corruption issues with the president, but it is assumed that this is not possible to bypass the president, ”said Irma Nadirashvili, a member of the opposition party“ European Georgia ”.

However, Gabunia completely denies any involvement in the case. He told reporters that in August he was on vacation and only from the media learned about scandalous cases.

The president herself is on a visit to the United States these days and will be speaking at the UN parliamentary assembly.

Is Zurabishvili facing impeachment?

After representatives of the ruling party showed they were not afraid of criticising the president, the opposition and the media started talking about the possibility of impeaching the president.

“If the investigation concludes that the pardon by the president was not a humane act, but rather had other goals, then, of course, it would be possible to begin the impeachment process of the president,” said Sulkhan Saladze, Chairman of the Young Georgian Lawyers Association, in an interview with Interpressnws Saladze.

However, as he explained, without a corresponding conclusion of the Prosecutor General, a given pardon cannot become the basis for impeachment.

“I think it’s too early to talk about it. The use of the right to pardon alone, or a single pardon, can not be the basis for impeachment,” he said.

•  Salome Zurabishvili is the last president of Georgia that has been elected by direct, popular vote. In the event of her resignation, Georgia will elect a new president through indirect voting, through an electoral college.

•  Zurabishvili is the first female president of Georgia. She was the first president to be elected to a six-year term (previously, presidents were elected for five years).

•In the history of Georgia, presidential elections have never been held in two rounds. The winner was not determined in the first round. Zurabishvili was the first who needed a second round to win.

• Since 2012, Georgia is a parliamentary country with a strong prime minister and a weak president. After the constitutional amendments of 2015, the fifth president of Georgia has even less rights than his predecessors.

• According to a recent study by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), President Salome Zurabishvili, who was elected just 10 months ago, rated 40 percent of respondents as bad and very bad. And only 12 percent rated the work of the president positively.

[toggle title=”Presidential Rights”]
The president has the right:

√  to pardon convicts;

√ grant citizenship of Georgia;

√ represent Georgia in the international arena, but all steps should be coordinated with the government;

√  formally sign the appointments of the Prime Minister and members of the High Council of Justice;

√  within the time periods specified by law, call local elections, parliamentary elections, as well as early elections;

√ to award and present awards;

√ the president cannot be arrested or prosecuted;

√  the question of impeachment of the president can be raises by a third of the votes of parliament. [/toggle]

•  The impeachment procedure in Georgia is as follows: based on the identification of signs of violation of the Constitution or crimes in the actions of the president, it is necessary for 50 MPs (1/3 of the parliament) to raise the question of impeachment. After that, it goes to the Constitutional Court of Georgia, which will assess the legality of the president’s actions. If the court responds positively, in order to suspend the president’s powers, it is necessary for 2/3 of the parliament (100 deputies) to vote “for”, and only then can criminal proceedings be launched against the president.