The Wall Street Journal published an article by Allan Cullison devoted to the recent arrest of former Georgian prime minister and Secretary General of the opposition United National Movement Vano Merabishvili, who is one of the closest associates of President Mikheil Saakashvili.
"The arrests stirred worries about the commitment to democracy in this former Soviet state, in which the U.S. and Europe have invested as a bulwark against Russia," the article reads. The author also notes that President Saakashvili denounced the arrests as political right away.
The author also quotes political analyst Alexander Rondeli as saying that Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili is taking a great political risk in starting prosecutions of former officials.
The government is trying to show Georgian society that it is fighting corruption and crime, but its position is twisted, since all the cases are against political opponents of the ruling coalition, the expert believes.
World press on Vano Merabishvili's arrest (May 22, 2013)
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