OPPOSITION ACTIVISTS ARRESTED IN GEORGIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.03.2009 11:58 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Georgian police arrested 10 opposition activists
on suspicion of illegally buying firearms, authorities said.

Opposition leaders, however, accused police of planting weapons at
the homes of some of the activists so they could be arrested.

Former parliamentary Speaker Nino Burdzhanadze said Monday that
police arrested 10 activists of her United Georgia party, including
her husband’s driver. She accused President Mikheil Saakashvili of
"terrorizing" his opponents and said weapons were planted at the
homes of at least two of the activists.

Burdzhanadze, a former Saakashvili supporter who will likely run
in the 2013 presidential election, created the opposition party in
late November.

The Interior Ministry said the arrests late Sunday followed weeks
of surveillance. Police accused the suspects of illegally buying
firearms. Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said Burdzhanadze had
"politicized" the arrests, AP reports.