Ombudsman: Every time we attempted to meet Elene Khoshtaria, we received a refusal — if she considers it necessary that we can contribute to the improvement of her condition, I express full readiness

"Every time we attempted to meet Elene Khoshtaria or take an interest in her case, we received a refusal. This is her right, her personal attitude toward me, and there is nothing I can do about it; I cannot force anyone to cooperate with me," Public Defender Levan Ioseliani stated on PalitraNews' program 360 Degrees.

According to the Ombudsman, if Elene Khoshtaria reconsiders her attitude regarding cooperation with the Public Defender, he is ready to contribute to the opposition politician's case.

"I wish Elene Khoshtaria health and a speedy release; this is the position I can hold toward this person, despite the fact that from the very first day of my election, she has refused to cooperate with me as the Public Defender and has refused to cooperate with my office.

Every time we attempted to meet her or take an interest in her case, we received a refusal every single time. This is her right, however, if she changes her mind, reconsiders her approach, and deems it necessary that we can make some contribution to the review of her case or the improvement of her condition, of course, I express my full readiness. This is her personal attitude toward me, and I cannot do anything about it; I cannot force anyone to cooperate with me.

Regarding early release, I wish not only Elene Khoshtaria, but all convicts, to be released early. Generally, I have long supported the activation of parole and significantly increasing that number, which I write about in my report. This applies to all prisoners and, of course, it applies to Elene Khoshtaria as well," Levan Ioseliani stated.

When asked whether he could appeal to the President to pardon Elene Khoshtaria and whether the President could pardon her based on the Public Defender's statement as an exceptional case given Khoshtaria's state of health, Ioseliani replied that there are other prisoners in penitentiary institutions with even more severe health conditions, and the fact that Khoshtaria is a politician is not a grounds for him to view her as an exceptional case.

"He [the President] has the opportunity to make such a decision at any time. Do not think that I have any problem with Elene Khoshtaria; simply, establishing a practice where I start petitioning the President for the pardon of convicts—there are up to 12,000 convicts... I will say one thing: Elene Khoshtaria's state of health is very important, and once again, I wish her a speedy recovery, but there are convicts in the penitentiary system with worse health conditions than hers—I mean in terms of health—and therefore, in this regard, the fact that Elene Khoshtaria is a politician cannot, at least for me, be a basis for separating or singling her out," Levan Ioseliani stated.