31 January 2012, 19:00
Convicts in Georgia called for the President of the USA to help release political prisoners
A group of convicts in Georgia appealed to President of the USA Barack Obama asking him to help in release of political prisoners. Similar appeals were sent to President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso and Head of EU Mission in Georgia Philip Dimitrov.
On January, 30, the day of meeting between Barack Obama and President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili, non-governmental movement "Solidarity with unlawfully convicted" made the text of the appeal public. The appeal was signed by inmates of correctional custody facility No 17. They consider their imprisonment politically motivated.
The convicts state that their trials have passed with violations of the concept of justice, neglecting the principle of supremacy of law and gross violation of human rights. In the opinion of the signers, "both the facts of pressure and deliberately trumped-up charges testify to that", IA "Novosti-Georgia" reports.
"Both local and international human rights organizations confirm the fact that there are political prisoners in Georgia. A meeting of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg with Georgian political prisoners in April, 2011, also testifies to that. Hence, we hope that you will pay due attention to the problem of political prisoners in Georgia whose number makes already over 90 persons and start negotiation with the authorities on their release", "Tbilisi on RUS-PRESS" quotes the appeal.
