Georgia: Burjanadze Supporters Arrested amid Illegal Arms Accusations

Nine representatives of former parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze's Democratic Movement-United Georgia have been arrested in what the opposition party claims is a government-run "intimidation campaign." Interior Ministry officials in Tbilisi insist that the arrests were made in connection with routine efforts by law-enforcement agencies to track the "illegal turnover of arms."

On the morning of March 23, police raided the Batumi apartment of Davit Avaliani, the party head for the Black Sea region of Ajara. Avaliani was arrested after the police allegedly found an unlicensed firearm in his apartment. Another party member, Nugzar Gogrochadze, was also arrested in Batumi, Rustavi-2 television reported.

Party spokesperson Khatuna Ivanishvili told EurasiaNet that six other party members were arrested March 23 in Tbilisi on similar weapons charges. The driver for Burjanadze's husband, former customs chief Badri Bitsadze, also was taken into custody, the former speaker told a news briefing. She intimated that evidence used to justify the arrests was planted.

"You should not be surprised if they find drugs in my pocket and, if not a machine gun, then a chemical weapon in my house," Burjanadze said in comments broadcast by the Rustavi-2 television channel.

Burjanadze claimed that the arrests were designed to frighten critics of President Mikheil Saakashvili in advance of a mass opposition protest planned for April 9 in Tbilisi. The government "has realized that stopping this movement is impossible," she said. It "has begun a dirty fight against [opposition] political parties."

The Georgian Ministry of Interior Affairs released video footage purporting to show four detained activists from Burjanadze's party discussing arms purchases. In a statement, ministry spokesperson Shota Utiashvili said that the release had been prompted by the "politicization" of the March 23 arrests of Burjanadze activists. In the video, filmed by hidden cameras in apartments and cars, and broadcast on Rustavi-2 television, the activists discuss Russian- and Israeli-made automatic weapons. The video clips were purportedly made by Georgian security agents posing as illegal arms dealers.

"Representatives of several parties made very harsh statements" about the arrests, said Utiashvili. "For that reason, we decided to supply the public with part of the materials that prove the arrested individuals' criminal activities. The remaining materials and proof will be presented to the public later."

Burjanadze told television reporters that the interior ministry's evidence is insufficient for "any normal court." "We are familiar with such 'video evidence' and how it is made up," she said.

The arrests coincide with recent statements by Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze and intelligence chief Gela Bezhaushvili that Russia is striving to break down Georgia's political stability from within the country.