Georgian MPs tell PACE delegates about improvements in the penitentiary system

Yesterday Georgia hosted a meeting of a PACE delegation headed by Pedro Agramunt with the chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Human Rights of Parliament, Eka Beselia, and committee members.Representatives of the Georgian parliament told PACE delegates about positive dynamics in the prison system, in particular, the reduction in the number of prisoners and a decrease in preliminary detention applications.

"Before 2012, we were in first place in Europe in number of prisoners. Today the number has reduced and there are 35 prisoners per 100,000, which is 3-4 times less, meaning a 60% reduction. Preliminary detention applications have reduced and this was also interesting for the rapporteurs and experts. Before 2012, 99.9% of the petitions were satisfied. Today 30% fewer petitions are satisfied, it means the number has fallen, as well as cases of minors. We had a statistic according to which applications for preliminary detention were quite high for minors. Today the figure is 20% lower. These dynamics in total are positive and will probably be reflected in the report on the current situation in this category, not only in Georgia but in the member states of the Council of Europe," Trend cited Eka Beselia.

Pedro Agramunt also met the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Vakhtang Khmaladze.