We told the Prime Minister that, at a minimum, they should consider the release of prisoners who have served at least 50% of their sentence — they are in prison because they were engaged in political activity, — this was stated by the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Pere Joan Pons Sampietro, in a conversation with journalists.

His response came to a journalist’s question about the laws recently adopted by “Georgian Dream.”

“We discussed this with all actors, but we rely on the 2024 report and believe that we should work together to improve the recommendations. Allow me to say that today we heard from some actors that the situation is, at a minimum, not better than in 2024.

And I would add two things. First — we told the Prime Minister and the Parliament Speaker that one step they should take is, at a minimum, to consider the release of prisoners who have served at least 50% of their sentence,” — stated Sampietro.

When asked by a journalist whether this means these people are political prisoners, Sampietro said that “it is not my role to say whether they are political prisoners or not.”

“I will say that they are in prison because they were engaged in political activity. In my opinion, we have a separate dialogue with opposition parties, civil society, and also with the government. They talk to each other through us,” — stated Sampietro.