Police detained the son-in-law of former Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze as he was about to fly abroad on Friday, and the country's new leader urged businessmen to steer clear of corruption to keep out of trouble.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, in remarks broadcast live on television, also vowed to crack down on what he said were criminals who fomented a day of clashes in the ex-Soviet state's autonomous Adzhara region.
Gia Dzhokhtaberidze was detained at Tbilisi airport on suspicion of tax evasion. His wife -- Shevardnadze's daughter Manana -- said her family might seek political exile abroad.
Saakashvili, due to meet US President George W. Bush in Washington next week, said Dzhokhtaberidze had inexplicably acquired US$70 million in property within a few years. The family, he said, had even more vast holdings.
"That money was monopolized by Shevardnadze's family from the people and that's why they should be charged according to the law," Saakashvili said.
The president, who led protests that prompted Shevardnadze's resignation last November, said businessmen who abided by the law had nothing to fear.
"I'm giving the president's word that each businessman who submits a real tax declaration about his income before April 1 will be exempt from responsibility in the future," he said.
"If you are hiding something, legalize your business and no one will touch you ... Our goal is to make business free from corrupt businessmen."
Saakashvili has made action against high-level corruption a key part of a plan to right Georgia, once one of the wealthiest Soviet republics. A former energy minister, a transport minister and the railways chief have also been detained.
Shevardnadze's daughter rejected the allegations outright.
"It's a lie. It's illegal and unprecedented ... It's political persecution of Shevardnadze's family aimed at discrediting Eduard Shevardnadze," she said.
Dzhokhtaberidze was about to set off for Paris on his way to the US when police came aboard and led him away.
Saakashvili had earlier given assurances that Shevardnadze -- the Soviet foreign minister who helped oversee the end of the Cold War -- would himself not be touched.
"Georgia's leadership declares that ex-president Eduard Shevardnadze will not share his son-in-law's fate," Saakashvili's press service said.
Saakashvili made his comments on Adzhara after violence disrupted a visit to the region by Walter Schwimmer, secretary general of the Council of Europe, a continent-wide rights group.
Supporters and rivals of Adzharan leader Aslan Abashidze clashed in the streets of the Black Sea town of Batumi, particularly outside the offices of a group opposing him.
Rustavi-2 television said the offices were damaged and activists badly beaten. Dozens were reported hurt on both sides.
"I want each citizen of Adzhara to know that the Georgian president will defend their rights. There is group of criminals there," he said.
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