| Tbilisi forgives “terrorist” Georgadze Yesterday in Tbilisi, a small (about 100 people) rally of supporters of the former Minister of State Security Igor Georgadze took place in front of the Prosecutor General's Office building. He fled abroad after he was suspected of involvement in the assassination attempt on Eduard Shevardnadze in August 1995. Then, during the passage of the motorcade, a Niva loaded with explosives exploded next to the president’s car, but the head of state escaped with minor injuries.
Since then, Igor Georgadze, a professional security officer with Afghan experience, has been unsuccessfully wanted by Interpol, appearing from time to time in secrecy, without disclosing his location, with incriminating interviews on Russian TV channels or in Georgian newspapers. Recently, Eduard Shevardnadze suggested that Igor Georgadze return and try to justify himself before the investigation. “If he is not arrested, if they provide guarantees of immunity, then Igor is ready to return,” the father of the fugitive security officer Panteleimon Georgadze, a retired border guard general, first secretary of the United Communist Party of Georgia, told us. According to him, Igor is “in the far abroad.” This means that Tbilisi believes that Georgadze Jr. is hiding in Russia, which is an additional irritant to bilateral relations. Moreover, according to Georgadze Sr., Tbilisi “is taking measures to establish contacts with Igor, especially since almost everyone involved in the case of that assassination attempt is already free.”
Such key “conspirators” as Mkhedrioni leader Jaba Ioseliani (who recently died) and ex-Minister of Internal Affairs Temur Khachishvili, who managed to create the “Datvi” (“Bear”) party, which, as the name suggests, is for friendship, were released early with Russia. According to Panteleimon Georgadze, his son will be able to return to his homeland “sometime in the summer to take part in the autumn parliamentary elections.”
In an interview with our newspaper, one of the leaders of the Georgian opposition, a member of the leadership of the National Movement - Democratic Front, David Berdzenishvili, said that the option of the authorities forgiving Igor Georgadze is acceptable - in order to intimidate opponents. “They will want to pit him against us, as is already happening in the case of Temur Khachishvili,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.” Igor Georgadze undoubtedly has a dossier on every significant Georgian politician. This is what the authorities can use before the elections. Mikhail VIGNANSKY, Tbilisi |
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