TBILISI, November 24 (RIA Novosti) - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has signed an order to pardon or reduce terms for 365 prisoners, a penitentiary service spokesman said on Monday.
"The Georgian president has signed orders 767 and 768 today pardoning 365 convicted prisoners, 144 of whom will be released today and 221 have had their terms halved," said Salome Makharadze, the head of the press service at the Justice Ministry's penitentiary department.
The country's parliament approved the amnesty on November 21 for offenders serving sentences for minor crimes. The amnesty is expected to affect some 12,000 prisoners in total, around 2,000 of whom will be released early and the remainder will have their terms reduced.
Courts are due to make the final decisions within two months.
