EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - Georgia: Late Premier's Family Urges Response From President

EURASIA INSIGHT

GEORGIA: LATE PREMIER’S FAMILY URGES RESPONSE FROM PRESIDENT
9/27/07
A EurasiaNet Partner Post from BBC Monitoring

Text of report by Georgian Imedi TV on 26 September

[Presenter] Nino Kadagidze-Zhvania, the wife of former Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, has told [Georgian] Pirveli news agency that [former Defence Minister] Irakli Okruashvili has only confirmed the information Zhvania’s family had from the very beginning regarding the prime minister’s death.

In the meantime, Zurab Zhvania’s brother, Giorgi Zhvania, plans to meet Irakli Okruashvili. Giorgi Zhvania demands that the head of state [Mikheil Saakashvili] respond to Okruashvili’s statement.

Okruashvili said in Imedi TV’s "Ghia Eteri" programme [on 25 September] that he possessed information that the body of the dead prime minister was brought to [an apartment] in Saburtalo Street [in Tbilisi, where it was discovered on the morning of 3 February 2005].

[Giorgi Zhvania] [words indistinct] the interior minister, previously the prosecutor-general and therefore he possesses a fairly large amount of information. When somebody like him says the same, it is very important. But it will be more important if it will be possible to produce some concrete evidence. I hope it will be possible for us to meet and speak about the issue. Besides, Okruashvili made very serious statements, which are, in fact, accusations against the head of state. These are extremely grave . And I am very sorry to say that under these circumstances the authorities demonstrate - I cannot even call this passivity - helplessness, inaction. We have not heard an appropriate response, but for one [press] conference which contained nothing but assessments of Okruashvili’s actions.

Editor�s Note: Source: Imedi TV, Tbilisi, in Georgian 0900 gmt 26 Sep 07

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