Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili has pardoned 226 people on the occasion of Mariamoba, the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, his administration has said.
The pardon applies to 217 people serving prison sentences and six people serving non-custodial sentences, while the criminal records of three others have been cleared. The names of those pardoned are not officially disclosed, News Georgia reports.
The presidential administration said the decision was based on “the principle of humanism and the state interest”. It is Kavelashvili’s ninth pardon since his inauguration in late 2024.
Georgian media have identified nine people convicted in connection with anti-government and pro-European protests in 2024-2025 among those pardoned.
They include 26-year-old musician Davit Khomeriki, who was sentenced to four years and six months in prison in August 2025; 21-year-old Fridon Bubuteishvili, who was sentenced to five years in early 2025; and 20-year-old Saba Jikia, who received a four-and-a-half-year sentence for kicking a police officer during a protest in December 2024.
Also pardoned were Guram Khutashvili, 26, and Daniel Mumladze, 23, who were each sentenced to three years in prison after helping protesters damage surveillance cameras on Rustaveli Avenue during the November-December 2024 protests.
Among those pardoned in connection with the so-called October 4 case were Tornike Mchedlishvili, 27, and Avtandil Topchishvili, 48. The case concerns a protest on 4 October 2025, when demonstrators broke through a fence and entered the grounds of the presidential residence on Atoneli Street in Tbilisi.
Mchedlishvili was sentenced in May 2026 to five years in prison on charges of group violence and attempting to seize a strategic facility. Topchishvili was sentenced in June 2026 to one year in prison and three years suspended after reaching a plea agreement and admitting guilt.
According to News Georgia, Russian citizen Denis Kulanin, 32, was also among those pardoned. He was detained on 28 March 2025 on Rustaveli Avenue during a protest against the activities of a parliamentary commission investigating alleged crimes committed during the rule of Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement.
Kulanin was charged with damaging a police vehicle. He pleaded guilty and apologised in court before being sentenced to two years in prison in June 2025. In February 2026, he went on hunger strike in protest against what he described as pressure from the prison administration.
Following his release, Kulanin was transferred to the Migration Department of Georgia’s Interior Ministry, where the issue of his possible deportation is being considered. The ministry confirmed to Interpressnews that, under the law, Kulanin has the right to leave Georgia voluntarily, either for Russia or a third country.
The prosecution of participants in the 2024-2025 protests has been described as politically motivated by opposition groups and human rights organisations. The names of those convicted have appeared on lists of political prisoners.
Presidential pardons are an exclusive power of the Georgian president and are generally issued on state or religious holidays.
According to Georgia’s National Statistics Office, the total number of convicted people in the country reached 22,767 in 2025, the highest figure since data collection began 25 years ago. Of these, 8,702 were serving prison sentences at the end of 2025.
