Ombudsman Sozar Subari persists in accusations

On the New Year Eve people's defender of Georgia came forward with the report at the extraordinary parliamentary session. He stated he had "direct proofs against many officials" including the audio recording of a meeting in Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili's office on November 4 2007 in which "the high-ranking officials are planning criminal actions against the population of the country".

As is known three days later on November 7 Georgia's police broke up the mass oppositional demonstration at the parliament building with the help of tear gas, rubber bullets and batons. According to official information one person was dead, 508 persons were taken to hospitals. According to kavkaz-uzel.ru now Subari asserts that the massacre above was masterminded in Merabishvili's room: by himself, ex Prosecutor General - now Justice Minister Zurab Adeishvili, Defense Minister of that time David Kezerashvili, and ex head of Interior Ministry constitutional security department Data Akhalaya.

"The Interior Minister ordered to strike mostly the kidneys and the bellies, in extreme case -in the faces, - the people's defender is quoted by the same source. - At the meeting the Minister also told that no participant should remain unbeaten in order to prevent further protest actions".

According to Subari there was another recommendation to Interior Ministry officers: "Drugs and firing arms - if the opportunity occurs - must be foisted on many activists in order to detain them on these pretexts". Defense Minister Kezerashvili suggested involving military units disguised as policemen for the break-up and beating of more participants. Besides he got a commission "to blackmail the businessmen assisting the opposition".

Also in his report Sozar Subari brought a direct charge against Ajaria's law-enforcement agencies accusing them of torture and murder of Georgia's army officer Roin Shavadze.

The fact is on August 16 in Batumi a group of people in military uniform entered the home of Roin Shavadze, an intelligence officer of 23th Senaksky brigade who had got back from Tskhinval, taking him away to an unknown place. The same evening the officer's relatives found his corpse in one of the town mortuaries. The dead body had traces of 20 gunshot wounds and numerous fractures.

This case created a lot of stir and in October it was discussed in the Georgian parliament. From the very beginning Batumi Interior Ministry officers were suspected of the murder. In spite of the emerged scandal the case led to nowhere. Eventually no one has been penalized.

The ombudsman's overall report contains around 600 pages.

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