EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - Saakashvili Responds to Accusations, but Opposition Fights On

EURASIA INSIGHT

SAAKASHVILI RESPONDS TO ACCUSATIONS, BUT OPPOSITION FIGHTS ON
Molly Corso 10/01/07

After days of silence, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has responded to allegations of murder and corruption leveled against him and his government by former defense minister Irakli Okruashvili. However, opposition politicians believe his explanations are too little, too late.

On September 29, Saakashvili blasted Okruashvili, once one of his closest associates, describing the former minister’s allegations as "very painful." Okruashvili was arrested on September 27 on charges of extortion, money laundering, abuse of office and work negligence after making his claims and announcing the formation of an opposition movement, For a United Georgia. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

"I want to tell you that for me as a person what Okruashvili has done is very painful," Saakashvili told Georgian reporters before traveling to open a new road in the Upper Kodori Gorge, a strip of Georgian-controlled territory in breakaway Abkhazia. The president had previously not been expected to return to Georgia before October 2 from official trips to the United States and Greece. "He accused us of what is most unacceptable and is the kind of thing which we have never done, and would never and could never have done. And he knows this perfectly well himself."

During a live television interview on television station Imedi, Okruashvili recently accused Saakashvili of ordering him to "take care of" the media tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili, co-owner of Imedi with the News Corporation, and stated that he had information that former Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania’s body had been moved after he died. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The latter comment continues to stir heated comment and speculation among both ordinary Georgians and local media.

In an interview with Imedi television hours before his arrest, Okruashvili predicted he might be arrested "if Saakashvili feels in danger of losing power." Saakashvili’s ongoing silence had fueled much opposition criticism, with a September 29 headline in one sympathetic newspaper succinctly asking readers "Where Is the President?"

In addition to Okruashvili, the authorities have also arrested several men reportedly with close ties to the former minister. On September 27, his bodyguards and driver were detained although they were released the following day, according to Okruashvili’s press secretary Tamar Rukhadze. On September 30, Kavkaz Press reported that Malkhaz Bukia, the alleged founder of the Poti branch of Okruashvili’s party, was also arrested. Rukhadze confirmed that Bukia had been detained, but did not know if he had been officially charged. The general prosecutor’s office could not be reached for comment.

In his weekend comments, Saakashvili defended the decision to arrest Okruashvili, once arguably the government’s most influential minister, as a sign that rule of law now prevails in Georgia. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

"But let everyone remember one thing: if a person steals money, if a person damages our state, which we are now creating � then no matter what he says, no matter what kind of blackmail he resorts to � justice will still prevail and the state will still perform its role," Saakashvili said.

While members of the ruling National Movement Party have praised the government’s actions, opposition politicians believe the president has done little to disprove the allegations against him. The lack of a concrete response by the president to the charges made against him does little to allay suspicions of misconduct by him, noted Goga Khaindrava, a former State Minister for Conflict Resolution under Saakashvili and now an activist with the opposition human rights group Equality Institute. "I did not hear anything," said Khaindrava, referring to the lack of concrete explanations by the president during the televised comments.

Okruashvili supporters also dismissed the president’s statements as inconsequential. Keti Makharashvili, a member of parliament and former member of the ruling party who recently left the National Movement to join Okruashvili’s For a United Georgia, noted that Saakashvili sounded "like a little kid."

"Did he respond? He just said it was a lie," she said. "He gave no explanation."

However, political scientists like Alexander Rondeli, president of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, believe the nature of the accusations left the president with few options for a response.

"It is difficult. If he said �I refute it,’ doubts remain. If he said it is right, that is impossible," Rondeli said. The government’s investigation into Okruashvili’s allegations will be more telling, he added. Both the opposition and the ruling party have called for the prosecutor’s office to examine the accusations, though few details are known about investigators’ plans.

For now, the government is proceeding with its case against Okruashvili. On October 1, the Tbilisi Court of Appeals upheld a lower court decision to hold Okruashvili in custody for two months while awaiting trial.

Parliamentarian Makharashvili said that while the hearing appeared to meet court protocol, she believed that its decision was predetermined � an opinion widely echoed by other members of the opposition.

Despite Okruashvili’s detention, she added, For a United Georgia still plans to announce its party platform at a November 15 conference. The party is still in the process of completing its registration. The party moved into new offices after the government closed its central office on September 27 in connection with money laundering charges against Okruashvili, spokesperson Rukhadze said. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

A broad range of opposition parties have rallied around Okruashvili since his arrest, and have placed emphasis on creating a national protest campaign, holding a large-scale protest in front of parliament on September 28. Political parties that have so far joined the campaign, known as the National Council, include the Republican Party, Conservative Party, For a United Georgia, Freedom Party, Labor Party, People’s Party, Georgian Company (Kartuli Dasi) and Georgia’s Way.

Kakha Kukava, a senior member of the Conservative Party, told EurasiaNet that the movement’s strategy and structure are still "under consultation" and could not say when the parties will announce their next steps. Khaindrava, another one of the movement’s leaders, however, told EurasiaNet that the movement’s focus is not on Okruashvili, but on "the country" at large.

"Okruashvili is not the point," Khaindrava asserted. "We are protecting our country, we are protecting our people, who should know who is leading this country, a president or a killer," he said. "We need to know."

Editor�s Note: Molly Corso is a freelance reporter based in Tbilisi.

The Central Eurasia Project aims, through its website, meetings, papers, and grants, to foster a more informed debate about the social, political and economic developments of the Caucasus and Central Asia. It is a program of the Open Society Institute-New York. The Open Society Institute-New York is a private operating and grantmaking foundation that promotes the development of open societies around the world by supporting educational, social, and legal reform, and by encouraging alternative approaches to complex and controversial issues.

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the position of the Open Society Institute and are the sole responsibility of the author or authors.