President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili has issued a pardon act to Gigi Ugulava, one of the leaders of European Georgia, and Irakli Okruashvili, former Minister of Defense. Salome Zurabishvili stated about it at a special briefing on Friday.

"I have made a decision to issue an act of pardon to Ugulava and Okruashvili. Before their pardon comes into force, I would like to address the public, since my decision will not be easily understood and they may not even forgive me.

Before I explain the reason behind my difficult decision, I need to explain the essence of forgiveness to everyoneI am not pardoning political prisoners, and I assume full responsibility for stating that there are no political prisoners in Georgia. To be clear, I would like to add that a politician, who is serving a prison sentence for a serious and well-known criminal offense, is not called a political prisoner, he is just a guilty politician, ”the president said.