Ex-chief of Anti-Terrorist Center Arrested

Police detained on April 29 ex-chief of the Security Ministry’s Anti-Terrorist Center Levan Kenchadze, who is accused of misuse of power and fraud allegations.

Georgian General Prosecutor Irakli Okruashvili said the law enforcers allege that Levan Kenchadze was involved in “selling arms to the Chechen militant groups, which were harboring in Pankisi gorge,” in north-eastern Georgia.

“Officially these arms, owned by the State Security Ministry, were destroyed, but we suspect that Levan Kenchadze sold them to Chechen fighters,” he added.

Georgian media speculated last year that Kenchadze was allegedly involved in several high-profile abduction cases, including of two Spanish businessmen – Jose Luis Treminio and Francisco Rodriguez. They were released in late 2001 after more than a year of detention in Pankisi gorge by the unknown kidnappers, who are not captured yet.