Azernews.Az

By Sabina Idayatova

The pardoned people in Georgia believed to be political prisoners are seeking compensation for the years wrongly spent in jail, punishment of those responsible and full rehabilitation, Trend news agency reported.

All of them intend to seek review of their cases at the prosecutor's office.

Football player Giorgi Demetradze, who was convicted in 2010 over links to the criminal world, along with compensation, will demand punishment of those who are believed to have fabricated his case.

"I am one hundred percent sure that I will win this case," Demetradze said.

Vakhtang Maisaia, who had been convicted over spying for Russia and released as a political prisoner, plans to file a lawsuit in the Hague court martial.

Maisaia told journalists that since he was accused of military espionage, it would be right if his case was reviewed at the International Military Tribunal, which is currently considering the case regarding the 2008 military action in Georgia.

The former military expert had been serving a prison sentence since 2009.

190 people recognized by the Georgian parliament as political prisoners were released on Sunday, the day the amnesty law came into force in the country. After Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili refused to sign the amnesty bill, it was signed by Parliament Speaker David Usupashvili.

The 190 pardoned people included individuals detained during the protests on Nov. 7, 2007 and May 26, 2011, Georgian citizens and one Russian citizen convicted of espionage.

The minister of corrections, chair of the parliamentary rights committee, the Ombudsman, NGO representatives, close relatives and colleagues met the released political prisoners.

Eka Beselia, who chairs the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, said that a new era starts in Georgia, when the country will have no political prisoners. "The new government is the guarantor," Beselia said.

According to the amnesty bill, some 3,500 more convicts, who have been included in the amnesty, are to be released over two months. Their cases have been submitted to the courts, which will make decisions individually, Trend reported.

Meanwhile, President Saakashvili criticized the amnesty decision, saying pardoning Russian spies is a challenge for the country's security. Saakashvili told media on Sunday that the spies whose guilt had been proven were pardoned.