Fourth anniversary of Zurab Zhvania’s death…

Today is the fourth anniversary of Zurab Zhvania's death who was the first post-Rose Revolution head of the government. This tragic loss announced on TV as carbon monoxide poisoning in a hurriedly rented apartment for secret meetings is still arousing a lot of rumors and gossip.

Zurab Zhvania case investigation is still open though it was announced that the conclusions of the Georgian experts on the causes of Prime Minister's death coincided with the statements made by the FBI experts.

It was Vano Merabishvili, the Interior Minister (then and now) who informed that Zurab Zhvania had died from carbon monoxide poisoning. He also reported that together with him in the apartment in Saburtalinskaya Street of Tbilisi there had been a young activist of the governing party, deputy governor of Kvemo Kartli region Raul Yusupov, 25 years old. According to Merabishvili, he too died of carbon monoxide accumulated due to the gas heater defect.

These explanations left Georgian people utterly shocked. Everyone was asking: how could such a thing happen? Is it possible that Prime minister had no possibility to set a normal safe gas heater? What does all this mean?

The questions arose also because for some time past Zhvania had been in disagreement with president Saakashvili's team.

Two and a half years after Prime Minister's death Georgia's ex Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili presented another piece of news to the public. He made a direct statement that Zhvania had been murdered noting that he had not died in the apartment shown on TV. His words were categorical and straight: "His body was brought to this apartment".

"Reporter" Production Company made a film on Zurab Zhvania's death - there are more questions than answers.

The ex Prime Minister's family has a lot of riddles to guess too. According to his widow, Nino Kadaghidze featured in Kavkasia TV "Pressexpress" show it is still unclear how carbon monoxide could be accumulated in a place with no sealed up windows. Besides she learned from certain sources that in the ill-fated apartment there had been no cigarette ends or ash or other evidence mentioned in the case - all was "made up" later.

Nino Kadaghidze presented some more information that had been unknown before. It turns out that as early as in January 2005 Zurab Zhvania and his family were going to leave Georgia.

As the widow says shortly before death "Zurab had telephone calls and warnings that he was in danger".

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