A Tbilisi court announced a sentence of two months imprisonment for the former presidential candidate and businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili, who now lives in London. This information was reported by Korrespondent.  During the proceedings, the prosecutor accused Patarkatsishvili of treason and the preparation of a terrorist act.  According to the news source, at the end of December, Georgian prosecutors revealed a recording in which a man sounding like Patarkatsishvili attempts to bribe a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Irakli Kodua. Patarkatsishvili allegedly proposes the kidnapping or even assassination of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia, Vano Merabishvili, to help the opposition more easily capture power.  As reported by the news outlet, Patarkatsishvili responded by calling the accusations absurd; he does not consider the charges to have any legal basis as he does not consider the regime of Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili itself to be legitimate.

This information was originally published on January 16, 2008. (www.korrespondent.net)