Irakli Okruashvili, the former defense minister of Georgia, was arrested late on September 27 on suspicions of “extortion, money laundering, misuse of power and criminal negligence,” reported Civil Georgia, quoting Nika Gvaramia, the deputy general prosecutor. Gvaramia confirmed that the General Prosecutor’s Office would ask the courts to hold Okruashvili for a two month pre-trial detention. Two days prior to his arrest, as reported by Zagolovki, Okruashvili publicly accused Georgia’s president Mikheil Saakashvili, his family, and close associates of the “intentional destruction of Georgia” and of widespread corruption. According to the news source, Okruashvili also accused the president of ordering the murder of Georgian millionaire and Saakashvili’s major opponent, Badri Patarkatsishvili, as well as possibly organizing the murder of the late Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania.
Eka Beselia, Okruashvili’s lawyer, was given access to Okruashvili after the arrest. “He says he is innocent. He also said he was a political prisoner,” Beselia told reporters, as reported by Zagolovki.
This information was originally published September 27, 2007(www.civil.ge; www.zagolovki.ru).