GEORGIAN OPPOSITION LEADER PATARKATSISHVILI DIES IN LONDON
RIA Novosti
12:33 | 13/ 02/ 2008
TBILISI, February 13 (RIA Novosti) – Georgian opposition leader Badri
Patarkatsishvili, accused by Georgian authorities of attempting to
instigate a coup during protests in the South Caucasus country last
year, has died in London.
His death, which is thought to have occurred late on Tuesday, was
announced on Georgian public television as the result of a heart
attack.
Patarkatsishvili, 52, was one of the most influential opposition
leaders in the ex-Soviet republic and Georgia’s richest man. He came
third in the recent January 5 presidential polls, garnering 7.1%
of the vote.
"Medical experts are ascertaining the cause of death [of
Patarkatsishvili].
It’s my view that he was stressed over recent events in Georgia. I
think this was the cause of Badri Patarkatsishvili’s death," said
Rati Shartava, the former head of the tycoon’s campaign headquarters.
However, Patarkatsishvili’s personal doctor later said that the tycoon
had never suffered from heart problems. An autopsy will be held today.
In an interview with The Sunday Times in December, the tycoon said he
feared he might be the target of an assassination plot. He referred
to a tape recording allegedly containing a conversation between a
Georgian interior ministry official and a Chechen warlord.
"Whoever was to do this . . . we want to be able to explain to the
people in Georgia that it was Russia," the alleged official tells
the warlord during the recording.
A warrant was issued by Georgian authorities for Patarkatsishvili’s
arrest late last year on charges of plotting a coup during November
street protests in Tbilisi against Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili. The businessman denied the accusations, although admitted
offering a large sum of money to a senior interior ministry official
in a bid to secure police support for protesters. The billionaire’s
bank accounts at Georgia’s Standartbank were also frozen in connection
with the case.
The businessman also owned a stake in the Georgian independent
television station Imedi, which aired anti-government broadcasts until
it was closed down by Georgian authorities in November. The station
was later reopened, although its future status remains uncertain.
The coup charges came days after presidential elections in which
Saakashvili was reelected as Georgian president, gaining around 53%
of the vote. The opposition claims that the vote was rigged.
Patarkatsishvili repeatedly delayed his arrival in Georgia for election
campaigning over what he said was a lack of security guarantees from
the government.
Badri Patarkatsishvili was born into a Jewish family in Tbilisi. His
involvement in the Soviet-era Communist youth organization, the
Komsomol, subsequently helped him secure important contacts. His
business activities were closely associated with Boris Berezovsky,
a fugitive Russian tycoon living in London, who faces corruption and
coup plotting charges in Russia.
The Georgian tycoon had himself faced a series of corruption charges,
including in the case of Berezovsky’s LogoVAZ group, of which
Patarkatsishvili was a deputy general director.
The tycoon lived in Moscow for several years in the 1990s and was
involved in the Russian media business. He was also the chairman of
the Georgian soccer club Dynamo Tbilisi.
He is survived by a wife and two daughters.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
