TBILISI, October 17. /TASS/. Georgia’s former president, Mikhail Saakashvili, gave his approval to make preparations for an assassination attempt against his political opponent, businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili, who died in London in 2008, as follows from a statement by the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office issued on Wednesday.
The Prosecutor’s Office said it had solved the case of preparations for Patarkatsishvili’s assassination and declared the arrest of suspects, charged with the abuse of office and murder preparations under aggravating circumstances. The suspects are former senior officials of the Department of Constitutional Security (DCS). The Prosecutor’s Office disclosed the content of recordings retrieved from a device found in the home of one of the accused. The officials reportedly discussed murder preparations and the intention to use one of Patarkatsishvili’s bodyguards for the purpose.
"In the conversation one of the officials, identified as G.D., says that murder preparations had been authorized by the then Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, because Patarkatsishvili was his political opponent and the authorities’ arch foe," the Prosecutor’s Office said.
As follows from the audio recording, the DCS officials considered several ways of liquidating Patarkatsishvili, including poisoning with an agent that would cause a "natural death effect." The three senior DCS officials whose voices can be heard in the audio are under investigation. If found guilty and convicted, they may face prison terms of 16 to 20 years.
Badri Patarkatsishvili was born in Tbilisi in 1955 and graduated from the Georgian Polytechnic Institute. In the 1980s, he moved to Russia to start a private business. In 2000, he returned to Russia, where he carried out a number of major business projects. In 2002, he founded the television broadcaster Imedi.
In 2004-2007 Patarkatsishvili was president of Georgia’s Olympic Committee and head of the Federation of Georgian businesses. In 2007-2008 he openly criticized a number of aspects of President Saakashvili’s policies. Patarkatsishvili died on February 12, 2008 in his home near London. His body was brought to Tbilisi on February 28 and buried on February 28.