ArmenPress
July 22 2005

GEORGIAN CHIEF PROSECUTOR BRUSHES ASIDE ANY CONNECTION BETWEEN
SUSPECT AND ARMENIA

BILISI, JULY 22, ARMENPRESS: Georgia’s chief prosecutor Zurab
Adeilashvili told after a meeting with his Armenian counterpart
Aghvan Hovsepian in Tbilisi that an ethnic Armenian citizen of
Georgia, Vladimir Harutunian, arrested on suspicion of throwing a
hand grenade at US president George W. Bush last May will be indicted
for trying to carry out an assassination attempt on Bush’s life.
“The suspect is a Georgian citizen, the incident took place in
Georgia and naturally it has no relation with Armenia. We are looking
for all evidence and information in Georgia. They are here and
nowhere,” he said. Vladimir Harutunian, 27, was arrested in a fatal
clash with the police late on July 20, admitted to tossing a
hand-grenade into a crowd during President Bush’s speech in May.
Georgian interior ministry disseminated information about the case
through a video footage shot by the ministry’s press office and
broadcasted by the Georgian television stations.
The footage issued by the ministry early on Thursday showed an
apartment where the suspect lived. Several hand-grenades, uniforms, a
night vision device and several gasmasks, as well as military
guidelines were seen on this tape. Later on Thursday the Ministry
issued a short interview with the suspect. The footage shows
Harutunian, who was injured in a shootout with the police on July 20,
in his hospital room. When answering the question asked by spokesman
of the Interior Ministry Guram Donadze: “Did you toss a
hand-grenade?” Harutunian replays: “Yes.” When asked why he did it,
the suspect starts answering: “because Bush…” and then the footage
is bleeped out, apparently to censor swearing.