Georgian President refuses to include Archpriest Mamaladze in list of pardons

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has lifted a moratorium on pardoning prisoners, but did not include Archpriest Giorgi Mamaladze on the list of pardons before Christmas. A brother of the sentenced priest claims the Georgian Patriarch influenced the decision of the Georgian leader.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that earlier, Salome Zurabishvili had also refused to pardon Giorgi Mamaladze, who was sentenced in 2017 to nine years of imprisonment for plotting a murder of the secretary of the Georgian Patriarch and illegal possession of weapons.

"I saw no reason to pardon Archpriest Giorgi Mamaladze," Salome Zurabishvili said on the air of the "Mtavari Archi" TV Company.

Salome Zurabishvili's decision to refuse pardon for Giorgi Mamaladze was made under the influence of the Georgian Patriarch, believes Tornike Mamaladze, a brother of the sentenced Archpriest. "I've got information that in recent days, Salome Zurabishvili met Georgian Patriarch Ilia II, and in personal conversation, he rejected a request of the Holy Synod to pardon Giorgi Mamaladze," Tornike Mamaladze said.

According to him, the Georgian Patriarch escaped responsibility in the case on pardon for Giorgi Mamaladze.

Let us remind you that according to the Prosecutor's Office, Giorgi Mamaladze was going to poison the Patriarch, but officials of the church and the opposition doubted the prosecutors' version and claimed intrigues among priests.