Charges intensify for ex-Defence Minister Kezerashvili and ex-Tbilisi Mayor Ugulava
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Charges against two former officials of ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili’s government have been intensified.
Heavier charges were laid against Georgia’s former Defence Minister David Kezerashvili and former Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava with regard to the November 7, 2007 protest crackdown and raid on the headquarters of Tbilisi-based Imedi TV.
The former officials’ lawyers said Kezerashvili and Ugulava were charged with embezzlement and money laundering in the case related to late Georgian media tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili’s property.
"Charges against Kezerashvili have been revised. Initially he was accused only of abuse of power but now he is also charged with money laundering. This is a purely political process which is aimed at keeping former Mayor Gigi Ugulava behind bars, since his pre-trail detention term expires on April 2," said Kezerashvili’s lawyer Beka Basilaia.
Imedi Media Holding was established by Patarkatsishvili in 2001. In 2007, when the media tycoon became one of the leaders of opposition, Imedi TV was banished by the riot police and shut down.
On November 7, 2007 a series of anti-government protests took place across Georgia and ended with protesters being dispersed by police who used tear gas and water cannons. A total of 508 people were taken to hospital when riot police dispersed thousands of protesters in various parts of Tbilisi.
Demonstrations started on September 28, 2007. It peaked on November 2 when up to 100,000 people gathered in front of the Parliament building in Tbilisi. Protesters urged then-president Saakashvili to step down. The protests were organised by a coalition involving major oppositional political parties.
At the time Saakashvili accused the Russian Secret Service of being involved in an attempted coup d’etat. He declared a nationwide state of emergency that lasted for 15 days.
Meanwhile on November 7, 2007, riot police attacked Imedi TV while the news program was live on air. Police officers in masks and carrying assault rifles were seen sealing off the office. The broadcaster, which the government claimed were biased and pro-oppositional, was subsequently switched off.
The next day Saakashvili announced an early presidential election for January 5, 2008, as a compromise to the solution.
The then-government was criticised for using heavy-handed tactics against protesters.
November 2007 was evaluated as the worst political crisis in Georgia since the Rose Revolution in 2003.
Former Georgian Defence Minister David Kezerashvili, who is internationally wanted by Interpol, has been found not guilty of bribing Government officials and smuggling large volumes of alcohol into Georgia.
Georgia’s Prime Minister says November 7 is a date that people will never forget or forgive United National Movement for.
The former Mayor of Tbilisi has been charged with organising group violence and coercion activity in Marneuli district during the June 15 local elections which violated public order.
The Tbilisi Court of Appeal has rejected an appeal from Tbilisi’s former Mayor Gigi Ugulava about his pre-trial detention.
The Investigating Service of Georgia's Finance Ministry announced officials had opened an investigation into an alleged money laundering scheme by ex-ruling party United National Movement (UNM).
A document prepared by international audit company Deloitte Limited, revealed the income and the extent of ex Minister of Defense David Kezerashvili’s business with the turnover more than 795 million USD in 2012.
International authorities have frozen the bank account of Georgia’s former Minister of Defence, who was recently released on bail after serving four months in a French jail.
This decision was made this afternoon by a French court, despite Kezerashvili being wanted in Georgia and facing multiple criminal charges including corruption.
Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has made his first comments about the extradition of Georgia’s ex-Defence Minister David Kezerashvili.
The United National Movement has confirmed the letter to French authorities to release Georgia’s ex-Defence Minister is authentic.
The International Prosecution Advisory Panel is recommending the Chief Prosecutor's Office of Georgia to continue its prosecution against ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili and other former high ranking officials.
Prosecutor’s Office lays charges against Kezerashvili
The Chief Prosecutor’s Office has laid charges against Georgia’s former Defence Minister Davit Kezerashvili for extortion of property.
Tbilisi City Court has imposed pre-trial detention on Georgia’s former Minister of Defence David Kezerashvili while he faces charges for extortion of property.
The State Prosecutor’s Office of Israel for Tax and Financial Crimes has plans to bring charges against four individuals, including a close relative of Georgia’s former, currently wanted defence minister David Kezerashvili, for evading taxes on $11 million in income from defense deals in Georgia under the United National Movement government between 2007 and 2009.
Georgia’s former defence minister under the United National Movement (UNM) government David Kezerashvili, who holds a 51% stake in opposition-minded Formula TV, pledges he will appeal a recent verdict by the Georgian Supreme Court against him in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
The Ministry of Defence of Georgia is filing a lawsuit against the former defence minister under the United National Movement (UNM) government David Kezerashvili and former head of the State Procurement Department Alexander Ninua, demanding compensation of €5 million for embezzlement, announces the Ministry of Defence.
The Tbilisi City Court fully upheld a claim of the Ministry of Defence of Georgia and has ordered David Kezerashvili, the former Defence Minister of Georgia, and Alexander Ninua, the former Head of the State Procurement Department, to pay €5,060,000 compensation to the Ministry in an embezzlement case.