Late PM’s security manager arrested

A second person has been arrested in connection with the death of the Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania in 2005.

Today Georgia’s Chief Prosecutor’s Office arrested Dzadzamia, who was the late PM’s security guard shift manager, on the basis of working negligence that caused human death.

The arrest of Mikheil Dzadzamia comes following the release of a scandalous video showing images of the late Prime Minister and Raul Usupov, who was the deputy Governor of Kvemo Kartli region.

The Office’s statement said in order to ensure the safety of Zhvania and his family, an obligatory security plan had been developed where the PM’s security guard had to protect the leader and could not abandon his role.

Despite this, on the night of February 3, 2005, Dzadzamia improperly fulfilled his duties and abandoned his post, which left the PM without any protection. Later that night Zhvania was found dead.

In addition, despite the established mandatory request, Dzadzamia did not notify the Operative Management Management Department about Zhvania’s whereabouts.

For these reasons Dzadzamia was charged with negligence due to his careless attitude towards his work, which inadvertently caused the death of Zhvania, read the Prosecutor’s statement.

Criminal proceedings have begun against Dzadzamia under Article 342 of the Georgian Criminal Code, which holds a maximum sentence of four years in prison.

Graphic images showing the dead bodies of Zhvania and Usupov were leaked on the internet about midnight on Wednesday night. The video titled "Saakashvili killed Mr. Zurab Zhvania” was uploaded by a user under the name Hakim Pasha.

The montage contained 12 still photos of the bodies that identified a number of possible injuries that could be relevant to the men’s deaths.

Georgian Prosecutors have confirmed the authenticity of the photos. Head of the Prosecutor’s PR Department Teimuraz Dolidze said the footage was real and the photos were included in the official case material.