Opposition Calls for Independent Commission to Examine Zhvania’s Death

An opposition leader has called on President Mikheil Saakashvili to form an independent commission to investigate the death of Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, saying that the government's handling of the case has raised more questions than answers. Meanwhile, an independent medical expert and government critic who has questioned the Interior Ministry's findings says that she now fears for her safety.

In a fiery exchange on February 10 following the president's annual state of the nation speech to parliament, David Gamkrelidze, leader of the opposition New Rights-Industrialists Party, called on Saakashvili to appoint a commission of parliamentarians to investigate the circumstances surrounding Zhvania's death. "Society wonders whether [Zhvania's death] was a tragic accident or a murder," Gamkrelidze declared at the session. Carbon monoxide asphyxiation caused by an apartment's malfunctioning gas heater has been cited as the official cause of Zhvania's February 3 demise.

"Unfortunately, the officials investigating [Zhvania's death] discredited themselves in the eyes of the public when they immediately reported the cause of death as carbon monoxide poisoning," Gamkrelidze later said in a phone interview with EurasiaNet, adding that investigators' work has been "anything but transparent."

"In the interest of our country, we should have a special commission to investigate," he went on to say. "The answer provided by the commission will be more believable to the people than the official version."

In the past week, media speculation concerning the circumstances of Zhvania's death have increased, with particular scrutiny paid to government claims that an incorrectly installed Iranian gas heater was to blame. Speaking in parliament, however, Saakashvili denied that the investigation into the prime minister's death has concealed relevant evidence and rejected the demand for an independent commission. "We have nothing to hide," he said. "I trust our law enforcement agencies and I advise you to trust them." Parliamentary Speaker Nino Burjanadze seconded the president's stance, stating that "[t]here is no reason yet to doubt the information provided by the investigation."

The president also cited investigators' collaboration with a team from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, which arrived in Tbilisi on February 8 to review evidence from the scene of Zhvania's death and a February 1 bomb explosion in the nearby town of Gori that killed three people. At a February 9 news briefing, FBI specialists announced that they support Georgian investigators' preliminary findings that Zhvania died from carbon monoxide poisoning. Results from the government's forensic tests are expected sometime next week.

But Saakashvili's statement has done little to dissuade Gamkrelidze. "His [President Saakashvili's] reply proves my point," he told EurasiaNet. "Why is he not interested? Any normal person would say