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
Editor's note:
Molly Corso is a freelance reporter based in Tbilisi.
