国际英语新闻：Georgian president pardons 407 prisoners on New Year eve

TBILISI, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili Friday pardoned 407 prisoners on the New Year eve. Of the pardoned, 339 were to leave jail on Friday to join their families and friends in time for the New Year celebration.

Presidential pardon documents were already sent to the minister for correction and legal assistance, Khatuna Kalmakhelidze, who said the other 58 prisoners would have their sentenced jail time reduced by more than half.

Saakashvili already pardoned 220 prisoners on Nov. 23, the St. George Day of the country. St. George is deemed the patron of the South Caucasus country.

In that pardon, the president gave full pardon to 182 prisoners and sentence reduction to 32 prisoners.