25 July 2013, 18:17
Mass amnesty results in crime growth in Georgia, participants of mourning rally of killed 16-year-old girl assert
The large-scale amnesty initiated by the new government has resulted in an increase of crime; and citizens' safety is now under threat, said the participants of the mourning action, held in Tbilisi in memory of the murdered Mariam Kochalidze, a girl of 16 from Batumi. Her body with her throat cut was found in Batumi Boulevard in the morning on July 23. According to the police, her iPhone 5 and a bicycle were stolen.
The memory action was organized by the activists of the NGO "Free Zone": about 30 of them gathered on July 24 at 9:00 p.m. in front of the parliament building and lit candles in spite of the rain.
According to activists, they were worried that at the height of the tourist season, a murder of a young girl in the central boulevard of the main resort in Georgia became possible.
Many of those who attended the action attribute the rampant crime in Georgia with the mass amnesty, conducted by the new government.
On January 13, Georgia enacted the law "On Amnesty", which has affected more than 17,000 criminal cases. As of July, 14,000 people had been released from jails.
Author: Beslan Kmuzov Source: CK correspondent
