Victoria Panfilova, observer of Nezavisimaya Gazeta, exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
The trials of former Georgian prime minister Vano Merabishvili and former defense minister Bacho Axalaya continue in Tbilisi. Meanwhile, the former head of the defense department David Kazerashvili is on trial; he was accused in France of involvement in illegal arms trafficking. It seems that a special commission is going to be formed in Georgia, to deal with “the very quick capital accumulation” of Kezerashvili. Before his coming in power, he wasn’t a poor person, but neither was he wealthy. When Kezerashvili came to office, he joined the local “Rockefellers and Rothschilds” in the space of a few months; he even became the chief financial officer of the former ruling party, which was stated by Premier of Georgia Irakly Garibashvili on Thursday at a press conference.
Despite the fact the story surrounding Kezerashvili is interesting, public opinion is focused on the trials of Merabishvili and Akhalaya. It is interesting, because the former officials had rather cold relations in their period of staying in power. Informed sources state that they had a rough rivalry for a place in the sun.
Vano Merabishvili, who was appointed prime minister by Mikhail Saakashvili, wasn’t happy with the career advancement. He had to leave the Interior Ministry, the apple of his eye. Merabishvili was even more disappointed that the new interior minister was Bacho Akhalaya, his “frenemy.” At the same time, Akhalaya’s ambitions were higher than working as the interior minister. The competition between them was so acute that, according to the same informed source, they many times let each other down, trying to please Saakashvili. Both of them had failures and successes. At some point it seemed that the almighty Merabishvili was beginning to lose. But suddenly the United National Movement lost power. Akhalaya’s immediate arrest was one of the first acts by the new authorities. Many people recalled compliments made to Merabishvili by Bidzina Ivanishvili and suspected that Merabishvili could be involved in Akhalaya’s arrest. However, soon Merabishvili was behind bars as well.
The accusations against Merabishvili and Akhalaya are similar – excess of power, resort to force against social activists, smashing opposition demonstrations, and so on. It cannot be excluded that some aspects of criminal cases touch on both defendants simultaneously. However, they seem to understand that it would be more effective to resist heavy accusations together than separately.
And finally Bacho Akhalaya, who used to head the penitentiary system of Georgia, supported Vano Merabishvili, stating that video records in prisons can be removed only artificially, and justice has to pay attention to the arguments of such an honored person as Merabishvili and not rely on evidence against it by bandits and criminals.
At the end of 2013 Merabishvili accused the Prosecutor General of Georgia, Otar Partskhaladze, of kidnapping from jail. “Partskhaladze wanted me to tell information about the foreign accounts of the former president Mikhail Saakashvili and help in the investigation of the former premier Zurab Zhvania’s death. In return for cooperation, Partskhaladze supposedly proposed giving back my money which was seized and letting me leave the country,” Merabishvili said. He demanded the publication of video recordings made by prison cameras. When this wasn’t done, Merabishvili refused to take part in the trial. At the same time, his party comrades started a campaign against Partskhaladze and achieved his dismissal, in the end. However, Merabishvili stayed behind bars. Irakly Garibashvili stated that “he will be imprisoned for a long time,” as he not only exceeded his duties, but also financed the UNM from the state budget, and there were no political motives for his arrest.
Bacho Akhalaya described the automatic removal of prison video recordings as a bluff. His situation is difficult as well, even though recently it seemed that evidence against him wasn’t confirmed.
Akhalaya’s wife, Anna Nadareishvili, published a confession by one of the main witnesses for the prosecution, Goderdzi Cholokava, on YouTube, who stated that he bore witness against Akhalaya under pressure from the law-enforcement agencies, reading a text from a given paper. Cholokava also accused the famous journalist Irma Inashvili of letting him down - she invited him on her TV-studio show “Objective” and recorded a provocative talk; she took the recording to the General Prosecution, where he had to witness against Akhalaya.
While Georgian society was trying to digest the developments, Cholokava changed his evidence again. He said that he bore witness against Akhalaya willingly, while his retraction was made under pressure by friends of the former minister. An investigation has to find out when Cholokava is speaking the truth and when lies.
Considering the complicated character of the cases and the accumulation of them, the renewal of trials over Merabishvili and Akhalaya doesn’t mean that they will end soon. Vano Merabishvili is fulfilling his promise and isn’t taking part in the court sessions.
