Ivanishvili Says Saakashvili May Be Prosecuted

Outgoing Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili (right) and Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili (file photo)

TBILISI -- Georgia's prime minister has said outgoing President Mikheil Saakashvili may face legal prosecution.

In an interview with the Tbilisi-based Imedi TV, broadcast on October 22, Bidzina Ivanishvili said the death of Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania in 2005 could be among multiple cases for which Saakashvili may be held responsible.

Ivanishvili declined to directly say if Saakashvili will face criminal proceedings, but he said he did not rule it out.

Zhvania died from what authorities said was carbon-monoxide poisoning due to an inadequately ventilated gas heater.

Zhvania's brother, Giorgi Zhvania, said last week that newly revealed evidence suggests his brother might have been assassinated by Georgia's leadership.

Several of Saakashvili's associates have been arrested and charged with wrongdoing since Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream coalition won parliamentary elections in October 2012.


With reporting by civil.ge