Opposition parties appeal to President for pardoning of Nika Gvaramia
By Liza Mchedlidze
Friday, November 4, 2022
The opposition parties, signatories of the Charles Michel agreement, appeal to the president to pardon Nika Gvaramia, the founder of the "Mtavari Channel".
As Salome Samadashvili, Political Secretary of Lelo stated at the briefing held in the Parliament, a letter was prepared based on the spirit of the Michel agreement, with the request to use the power to issue a pardon in the name of the President.
"We believe that today, more than ever, it is important for the President of Georgia to use the authority granted by the constitution to pardon Nika Gvaramia in the case. With a corresponding message, we appeal to the president to use the right of pardon, opposition parties and members of parliament who are signatories of the Michel agreement.
The agreement, which defined depolarization in the country as its main task, and in which Mrs. President participated directly. We would like to apply in the spirit of this agreement and ask you to exercise your authority. We are also ready to meet in person and present our arguments as to why we consider this issue very important for this country today.
I also plan to communicate today with Michel's office in Brussels, to whom I will also present the argument why it is important today to find a solution to Nika Gvaramia, including through a pardon, so that our country's European future is not hindered and we do not receive another very big blow like that when Once we failed to get candidate status.
For this purpose, various opposition groups and politicians will sign the appropriate letter in the name of Mrs. President and we will let you know the content of the letter with signatures, as soon as the signatures are finally ready", said Salome Samadashvili.
In addition, Salome Samadashvili spoke about the draft law on de-oligarchization, which was adopted by the Parliament in the first reading. As the deputy pointed out, this draft law will not only fail to fulfill the requirements of the European Union regarding de-oligarchization, but in the worst case, it may actually become a new tool of political persecution in the country.
"That's why we refrained from supporting the bill, although, as we said, "Georgian Dream" has enough votes. He took political responsibility for this draft law, he also takes political responsibility for the consequences of the adoption of this draft law.
We believe that everything that is missing from fulfilling the requirements of the European Union to ensure our European future cannot be supported by us in this parliament, and among them is the bill on de-oligarchization, which was supported by the majority today," said Samadashvili.
