Burjanadze furious as her husband is held in custody

Badri Bitsadze was remanded in custody on June 1. As Bitsadze’s spouse and the leader of Democratic Movement United Georgia Nino Burjanadze told the media investigator Kakha Siradze called Bitsadze’s lawyer Lasha Samushia and informed that the hearing of Bitsadze’s case was to be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday where the fiscal solicitor protected the right of the accused. “Thanking” the Government for their attention, Burjanadze wondered why the process was held at such an early hour when the family could not have presented their lawyer until 4 p.m. on the same day.

On May 31 Gel 100 000 bail was imposed on Bitsadze by the General Prosecutor’s Office. As Nino Burjanadze said earlier on Wednesday her husband’s lawyer had actively started working on Bitsadze’s case. “On May 30 we received a document from the investigator which said that we could have hired a lawyer in a 48-hour term and we did so,” Burjanadze said stressing she wouldn’t pay even ten lari for the bail. As lawyer Samushia told Burjanadze, he was prevented from entering Tbilisi City Court and had been trying to contact the investigator in vain.

Bitsadze, accused of attacks on police with special armed groups, was said to have faced detention from 4 to 7 years if he refused to cooperate with the General Prosecutor’s Office. The place of Bitsadze’s residence is as yet unknown. As Irakli Batiashvili member of Representative Public Assembly told the media he hadn’t seen Bitsadze since the night of May 26. Stressing that the accusation against Bitsadze had been spurious, Batiashvili found it illogical for Bitsadze to cooperate with the investigation.

“We have such a strong Government controlling the entire country so ask them where Badri Bitsadze is,” Nino Burjanadze told the media. “I will fight even if I stay all alone,” she said worrying that almost everyone around her is being detained. “This is an attempt to leave me alone and I’m sure they (the Government) will fail because there are so many deserving people in Georgia who trust in our fair fight!” Burjanadze said stressing she would even sacrifice herself for creating democratic and fair state for the future generations. “I won’t be defeated even in the event of my physical destruction because I struggle for fairness,” the leader of Democratic Movement said stressing she would like her children to live in the country where their worth and souls won’t be trampled down.

On her own question why she hadn’t been detained so far if even 1% of the Government’s claims against her is true Burjanadze answered that “if they would do so the whole world would start shouting”. Stressing that the ongoing detentions have no legal basis and the leader of United Georgia accused President Mikheil Saakashvili and his team of the political witch-hunt against the supporters of the Assembly fighting for fairness in the country.

In his first comment about the consequences of the May 26 events, the Parliamentary Chairman Davit Bakradze said Georgia had been about to return to the epoch of Temur Khachishvili (leader of armed group). Stressing the Georgian Government would never let the people like Khachishvili rule the internal situation in the country Bakradze worried that people like that have ruined thousands of people in 1990s. “I’m very sorry for the families of dead and damaged people but we should all realize well that the Government’s inactivity could have brought greater harm to society. The Georgian Government is obliged to save the country from returning to those awful years,” Bakradze stated.