Georgian PM pays tribute to former PM Zhvania 12 years after his death
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Twelve years have passed since then-Prime Minister of Georgia Zurab Zhvania, one of the leaders of the Rose Revolution, was founded deceased in a rented apartment in Tbilisi.
Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili took to Facebook to remember the tragic date and honour the memory of the late PM.
Kvirikashvili noted Zhvania’s historic speech at the European Council on January 17, 1999, when he said, "I am Georgian, and therefore I am European”.
"These words by Zhvania are gaining even more importance today as our country continues to be successful in the process of Euro-integration”, Kvirikashvili wrote on Facebook last evening.
"Twelve years have passed since his death… I pay tribute to him”.
With 553 votes in favour, 66 against and 28 abstaining, the European Parliament (EP) approved visa-free travel for Georgian citizens to most countries of the European Union at a plenary session on February 2.
Zhvania was found dead in a rented flat in Tbilisi on February 3, 2005. The official cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning from a poorly ventilated gas heater. However, questions still surround the case. A re-investigation of the PM’s death was launched under the new Government of Georgia and is still ongoing.
President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili has awarded late Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania with the Order of Saint George's Victory today, on what would have been Zhvania's 51st birthday.
Graphic and disturbing images showing the dead bodies of two former Georgian officials has been leaked on the internet, with the family of one victim claiming the images are "genuine”.
The body of one of Georgia’s leading Prime Ministers, who died in unknown circumstances, could be exhumed.
A fund to develop democratic processes in Georgia, offer scholarships and implement cultural activities, in the name of the late Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania has been established.