Former high official testifies against Ex-PM Merabishvili

The witness, the former head of Constitutional Security of Adjara, Teimuraz Pataridze accused Ex PM Vano (Ivane) Merabishvili, who is now in pre-trial detention, of violating the individual property at a closed court hearing, according to the statement of the Chief Prosecutor of Georgia.

"Teimuraz Pataridze confirmed factual circumstances on accusations towards Merabishvili in his testimony. According to Pataridze, in May 2009, Merabishvili instructed him to take over his summer house located in Kvariati (black sea resort), to find two trustworthy people for taking care of the house and two policemen for the security of the place, reads the statement released on December 25.

According to the statement, after 2 weeks Merabishvili visited his house and gave out instructions its renovation from the budget of the state, more specifically from the budget of Interior Ministry of Adjara. Merabishvilis wife Tako Salakia was directly involved in choosing the design and color of the walls.

The witness also testified that the former Minister and his family regularly spent holidays in the summer house. He also confirmed that Merabishvili knew that it wasn't a secret house and was not on the account of the Ministry.

"We also want to point out that the defense side requested to interrogate Pataridze at a close court hearing on October 7, 2013 and the Court upheld the appeal. The prosecution believes that the actual motive for closing the hearing was that public wouldn't have been able to hear from the actual witness about the violations of individual property by Ivane Merabishvili, said the statement.