Posted on 02/06/2004 11:43:31 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe
Georgia's top prosecutor suggested on Wednesday ousted president Eduard Shevardnadze was not immune from prosecution for corruption despite assurances given by the leaders who toppled him. Mikhail Saakashvili, who ousted the Soviet-era veteran in a bloodless coup in November, promised Shevardnadze personal immunity from prosecution as a condition for his resignation.
In televised remarks, Prosecutor General Irakly Okruashvili refused to rule out moving against Shevardnadze in an anti-corruption campaign in the Caucasus state that elected Saakashvili president by a landslide last month.
A day after acting Transport Minister Merab Adeishvili's arrest on charges of financial wrongdoing and abuse of power, Okruashvili told Mze television the investigation could widen to include his immediate bosses. "Adeishvili reported directly to Shevardnadze," he said. Asked whether Shevardnadze could be detained if suspected of wrongdoing, Okruashvili said: "Nothing is ruled out." Shevardnadze could not immediately be reached for comment.
Adeishvili resigned from the government after Shevardnadze quit but was asked to stay on until a replacement was found. He said on Tuesday he had no idea why he was arrested. Saakashvili has accused Shevardnadze of sowing the seeds of corruption during his rule of nearly 10 years – a charge the former leader denies.
The anti-corruption campaign is at the heart of the U.S.-trained lawyer's efforts to pull Georgia back from the brink of economic collapse and turn it into a Western-style democracy. The campaign has led to several arrests including those of the former energy minister, the railways chief and the acting deputy head of the tax service.
06.02.2004, 18.19
TBILISI, February 6 (Itar-Tass) -- There have been more arrests of associates of Georgia’s former President Eduard Shevardnadze.
The Prosecutor-General’s Office has detained the financial director of Tbilisi’s electric power company Telasi, Ilya Kutidze on tax evasion charges, sources at the Georgian Interior Ministry have said.
The first deputy general director of the mining and ore-dressing enterprise Madneuli, Vakhtang Chkheidze was detained on the Turkish border during an attempt to leave the country. He is accused of repeated gross tax evasion.
Madneuli’s general director, Zurab Lobzhanidze has been abroad on the excuse of undergoing medical treatment.
Reliable sources regard Lobzhanidze as a close associate of Shevardnadze’s relatives.
Education Minister Alexander Kartoziya may be put in custody soon.
Two other former ministers were earlier detained on corruption charges – Energy Minister David Mirtskhulava and Transport Minister Merab Adeishvili.
Georgian police detained the son-in-law of ousted President Eduard Shevardnadze as he prepared to fly out of the country on Friday, the general prosecutor said.
Russia's Itar-Tass news agency said Gia Dzhokhtaberidze, who heads Magti, Georgia's biggest mobile phone company, had been held on suspicion of tax evasion. Prosecutor General Irakly Okruashvili said his office had received a letter from Dzhokhtaberidze saying he planned to travel to the United States. "Investigators recommended that he stay in Tbilisi but he ignored that recommendation", Okruashvili told Rustavi-2 television.
A senior employee at Magti, who asked not to be named, said Dzhokhtaberidze had been setting off on a business trip and was taken off a plane as it readied to leave for Paris.
President Mikhail Saakashvili, a 36-year-old U.S.-trained lawyer who led street protests that toppled Shevardnadze last November, launched a drive against high-level corruption after winning election in a landslide. Saakashvili promised the veteran Georgian leader and former Soviet foreign minister immunity from prosecution as a condition for his resignation, but Okruashvili has refused to rule out a move against Shevardnadze.
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