Salome Zourabichvili, the President of Georgia, has signed the “Amnesty Law”, though she expressed concerns that its timing - coming just ahead of parliamentary elections - could be perceived as an indirect form of voter bribery initiated by the ruling party.

“The adoption of the Amnesty Law by Parliament, particularly at the behest of the ruling party in the lead-up to parliamentary elections, clearly constitutes a form of indirect voter bribery.

Amnesty is fundamentally a humanitarian measure, and as such, it is more appropriately granted either well before or after an election, to avoid any perception of political manipulation.

Nonetheless, in light of the expectations of numerous convicts and their families, the President signed the “Amnesty Law”, - reads the statement of the Presidential Administration.