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.
Two former Chilean ministers are among four candidates competing this weekend for the presidential nomination of the left ahead of November elections dominated by rising levels of violent crime. More than 15 million voters are eligible to choose today between former minister of labor Jeannette Jara, former minister of the interior Carolina Toha and two members of parliament, Gonzalo Winter and Jaime Mulet, to represent the left against a resurgent right. The primary is open to members of the parties within Chilean President Gabriel Boric’s ruling left-wing coalition and other voters who are not affiliated with specific parties. A recent poll by the
TENSIONS HIGH: For more than half a year, students have organized protests around the country, while the Serbian presaident said they are part of a foreign plot About 140,000 protesters rallied in Belgrade, the largest turnout over the past few months, as student-led demonstrations mount pressure on the populist government to call early elections. The rally was one of the largest in more than half a year student-led actions, which began in November last year after the roof of a train station collapsed in the northern city of Novi Sad, killing 16 people — a tragedy widely blamed on entrenched corruption. On Saturday, a sea of protesters filled Belgrade’s largest square and poured into several surrounding streets. The independent protest monitor Archive of Public Gatherings estimated the
Irish-language rap group Kneecap on Saturday gave an impassioned performance for tens of thousands of fans at the Glastonbury Festival despite criticism by British politicians and a terror charge for one of the trio. Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, has been charged under the UK’s Terrorism Act with supporting a proscribed organization for allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag at a concert in London in November last year. The rapper, who was charged under the anglicized version of his name, Liam O’Hanna, is on unconditional bail before a further court hearing in August. “Glastonbury,
FLYBY: The object, appears to be traveling more than 60 kilometers per second, meaning it is not bound by the sun’s orbit, astronomers studying 3I/Atlas said Astronomers on Wednesday confirmed the discovery of an interstellar object racing through the solar system — only the third-ever spotted, although scientists suspect many more might slip past unnoticed. The visitor from the stars, designated 3I/Atlas, is likely the largest yet detected, and has been classified as a comet, or cosmic snowball. “It looks kind of fuzzy,” said Peter Veres, an astronomer with the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center, which was responsible for the official confirmation. “It seems that there is some gas around it, and I think one or two telescopes reported a very short tail.” Originally known as A11pl3Z before
RSS