EURASIA INSIGHT
Text by Elizabeth Owen and Molly Corso
Photos by Sophia Mizante
9/28/07
The surprise September 27 arrest of former defense minister Irakli Okruashvili has inspired opposition leaders to create a national movement against the government of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.
A crowd of several thousand protesters turned up outside parliament in downtown Tbilisi on September 28 to express solidarity with Okruashvili and call for his release. Demonstrators also demanded that the Saakashvili administration respect human rights and uphold the rule of law.
In a series of emotional speeches, opposition leaders, joined by former state minister for conflict resolution Goga Khaindrava, denounced Okruashvili’s arrest as politically motivated. The charges brought against Okruashvili, once a close Saakashvili ally, came two days after the former defense minister accused the president and government of crimes ranging from murder conspiracy to corruption, and announced the creation of an opposition party, Movement for a United Georgia. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
In comments to EurasiaNet, Tina Khidasheli, one of the leaders of the opposition Republican Party, said that opposition parties plan to take their campaign nationwide in response to the government’s actions. "Our plans are entirely peaceful. We will start a movement all around the country," Khidasheli said. "It will be an electoral revolution. We have the people for this."
A written statement from Okruashvili urged protestors to "fight for your rights" and continue the struggle against Saakashvili "through legal means," an English-language translation posted on Civil.ge read.
Most main opposition parties joined the demonstration, including the radical Labor Party. The New Rights Party declined to take part, stating that they see little difference between Saakashvili and Okruashvili.
In a televised briefing the morning of the protest, National Movement Party parliamentarian Giga Bokeria stressed that the charges brought against the former minister were "legitimate" and warned protestors against "violent actions," adding that the government’s response would be "very harsh."
Under Georgia’s Criminal Code, Okruashvili has been charged with extortion (article 181), money laundering (article 194), abuse of office (article 332), and work negligence (article 342).
Television broadcasts showed the official charges being presented to Okruashvili. The former defense minister, appearing in casual clothes, did not speak on camera. Associates and other opposition members reported him to be in good spirits.
Late on September 27, Okruashvili’s lawyer, Eka Beselia, a member of Okruashvili’s newly formed Movement for a United Georgia, told reporters that the former defense minister "maintains his total innocence" and asserts "that he is a political prisoner."
Prosecutors claim that, in January 2005, Okruashvili, then defense minister, arranged with businessman Kibar Khalvashi, the former owner of Rustavi-2 Television, to form a construction company, International Building Company, that later received three defense ministry contracts worth some 140 million lari (roughly $84.4 million).
The government claims that a parallel investigation shows "misappropriation and embezzlement of several dozen million lari" by the defense ministry. The time period was not specified.
At the same time, the government has charged Okruashvili with money laundering for citing in tax documents an allegedly sub-market value for his party’s headquarters in downtown Tbilisi.
Investigators also charge that Okruashvili and "an organized group" in late 2006 worked with former presidential spokesperson Dmitri Kitoshvili, who was arrested on September 25, to "extort" shares in the mobile communications company GeoCell at a below-market price. The shares, obtained from former company owner Jemal Svanidze, were worth 2.6 percent of the company’s overall capitalization, according to prosecutors.
Guram Gogua, the founder of ARTI Group, which oversees regional distributorships for Procter & Gamble, Gillette and Wella, among other consumer product firms, has also been sentenced to a two-month preliminary detention in connection with the GeoCell shares investigation. The company’s headquarters were sealed on September 25.
Deputy General Prosecutor Nika Gvaramia has named Kitoshvili, a former law partner of Okruashvili, as the source for information about the alleged GeoCell deal. The ex-presidential spokesperson was released from jail September 28 for his cooperation with investigators, Gvaramia said.
One member of Okruashvili’s party, however, said that Kitoshvili’s involvement was anticipated. Keti Makharashvili, a parliamentarian and former member of the National Movement Party, told EurasiaNet that Kitoshvili’s father reportedly approached Okruashvili on September 26 or September 27 and "asked permission for Dmitri Kitoshvili to name him [to investigators], which he refused."
"They forced Dmitri Kitoshvili to put the finger to him," Makharashvili said. "That was the reason for [Kitoshvili’s] arrest."
The timing of Okruashvili’s arrest has sparked censure from some Tbilisi analysts.
"[I]t means that the prosecutor general does not make the arrest as soon as it is known that [a crime has been committed]," said Giorgi Khutsishvili of Tbilisi’s International Center for Conflict Resolution. "The information is saved until the official becomes part of the opposition and then it is used against him."
"Regardless if Irakli Okruashvili is responsible for [the] possible crimes or accusations against him, right now he can be considered a political prisoner," he added.
Malkhaz Matsaberidze, a professor of political science at Tbilisi State University, agreed.
"This [arrest] is a mistake by the government," Matsaberidze commented. "If they wanted to arrest Okruashvili, they should have done it earlier."
The decision, however, was enough to convince some protest participants that the charges raised by Okruashvili against Saakashvili and his administration have merit. "If they hadn’t arrested him, it would have been difficult to say. But they arrested him. He was one of them. So that proved that he was right," argued 20-year-old Beka.
Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Mikheil Machavariani has stated that a request will be made to the prosecutor’s office for an investigation into the accusations brought by Okruashvili.
Other Tbilisi residents, however, expressed mixed reactions to the allegations, with the situation seen as an internal power struggle that had little to do with their lives. "They’re eating each other," said one newspaper vendor. "Okruashvili and Saakashvili can’t both exist and have the same ambition."
Saakashvili, who is currently in Greece, has made no comment on the case. A presidential spokesperson said that the Georgian leader is expected back in Tbilisi on October 2 and will leave again on October 5 for a Commonwealth of Independent States summit in Tajikistan.
Analysts Khutsishvili and Matsaberidze differ over the impact of Saakashvili’s ongoing silence about the arrest of his onetime political ally. While Khutsishvili termed the president’s ongoing absence and lack of commentary "disturbing," Matsaberidze argued that prominent Saakashvili supporters like Bokeria should handle the response.
"To respond in politics is to lose," he said.
Editor’s Note: Elizabeth Owen is EurasiaNet's Caucasus news editor in Tbilisi. Molly Corso is a freelance reporter, also based in Tbilisi.
