Ex-top security official grilled over 18m GEL misspent funds

A former top national security official is being interrogated by Georgian authorities after 18 million GEL of state funds was misspent.

Results of an audit of the state budget was the reason why Giga Bokeria was questioned by the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia.

Georgia’s Deputy Chief Prosecutor, Irakli Shotadze, said the Audit Office presented a report which showed 18 million GEL had been misspend by the National Security Council (NSC) during the time when Bokeria chaired the NSC.

"As the State Audit report questions the spending of budgetary funds, we are obliged to answer these questions,” Shotadze said. He denied the existence of any political revenge against former Georgian high officials.

Shotadze said the case was classified as secret so he could not add any further details.

Bokeria, who formerly held the position of Secretary the NSC and is the current Foreign Secretary of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party, was summoned to the Chief Prosecutor’s Office yesterday afternoon. He was interrogated by officials for about five hours.

After leaving the Prosecutor’s Office about 8pm last night, Bokeria said he was questioned about the issue "de-facto Prime Minister [Bidzina] Ivanishvili has been speaking about for a long time already”, in reference to foreign lobbying expenses under the previous administration.

On multiple occasions, Georgia’s Government officials said law enforcement agencies had investigated foreign lobbying expenses under the previous government, when lobbying contracts were mainly handled by the NSC. Currently, it is controlled by Prime Minister’s office.

Bokeria also expressed his regret that political leadership of the country made investigators "waste their time, resources and energy on cases like this”.

US House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said he was "deeply troubled by a pattern of ongoing harassment and detainment of former government officials as well as current opposition officials” in Georgia.

Boehner said this pattern "should be cause for concern throughout the international community of free nations”.

Meanwhile Swedish Foreign Ministe Carl Bildt wrote on his Twitter account he was: "Getting worried by developments in Georgia. Government's politics of revenge is not congruent with a free and fair election environment”.

Bokeria was a Member of Parliament from 2004 to 2008. In April 2008, he transferred to the post of deputy Foreign Minister of Georgia and in November 2010, to the role of Secretary of the National Security Council. He stepped down from this post on November 15, 2013, after Giorgi Margvelashvili from the Georgian Dream Party won the Presidential election.