Archil Talakvadze calls opposition’s reaction to clemency procedure a “triple standard”
By Inga Kakulia
Tuesday, October 1
President Zourabichvili Granted Clemency to 34 Prisoners on the Celebration of Virgin Mary’s Dormition Day. The list proved to be quite controversial, granting clemency to 3 convicted murderers, one of them being responsible for the death of the policeman.
The opposition has been very vocal about their opinions regarding the list and demanded that authorities look into it further. When asked about the reaction from the opposition, Archil Talakvadze stated it was an example of a triple standard. He said that, unlike the opposition, the Georgian Dream was always consistent in this regard.
"When their beloved President, Mikheil Saakashvili granted clemency to those who were convicted of serious crimes, these people had no critical remarks and positions then while we criticized the ex-president. When Margvelashvili did the same thing, we also criticized him, while the opposition called it a “political attack on the president.”
Today, when Salome Zourabichvili granted clemency to those convicted of serious crimes, the same people come out and said that we should launch an investigation. This is a triple standard. In all three cases, the Georgian Dream was consistent and disagreed with such decisions. The opposition was inconsistent in all three cases, had different positions, indicating that these people are not interested in truth and justice. Instead, they operate according to the specific time period and political reality. The public sees this. The public gives this a proper assessment. Otherwise, it will be difficult to distinguish between truth and lies. It is, therefore, better to put these hypocritical statements in order and to bring them in line with their general attitude towards clemency. We are future-oriented, and the future is for the president to work out his decree. We are ready for a consultation, " said Archil Talakvadze.
Madame President herself was more than open to the idea of the investigation. In the comment made recently, after the UN General Assembly Zourabichvili once again reiterated that she made the decision herself and that this procedure is not supposed to a “new court hearing” based on objective criteria.
“Clemency is an assessment by one person who is a president and who has the right to assess the circumstances and not to hold a new trial. I think we’re dealing with the confusion regarding these terms. I would like to say once again that clemency is not justification for anyone. In general, clemency applies not to angels but to guilty persons. This is the situation I am in,” said Madame President.
European Georgia party claims that the clemency process involved corruption deals involving Dimitri Gabunia, Parliamentary Secretary of the President, though Gabunia himself said that Deputy Head of Administration Angi Khutsishvili was in charge of compiling the list of pardons. Dimitri Gabunia and Acting Head of Presidential Administration Ani Khutsishvili along with five officials of the President's Administration have already been questioned on this case.
