Late PM’s Brother Speaks of Zhvania’s Death

The Georgian daily Rezonansi (Resonance) published on April 4 an interview with Goga Zhvania, a brother of Georgia’s late Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, who said that he has doubts regarding the official version of his brother’s death and is carrying out a private inquiry into this case.

Experts from the FBI, who probed into the death of Zhvania, confirmed, on April 1, the Georgian officials’ conclusions and announced that the late PM died of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a faulty gas heating devise which was improperly installed in the apartment where Zhvania’s dead body was found on February 3. Along with Zhvania, Deputy Governor of Kvemo Kartli region Raul Usupov was also found dead in the same apartment, also reportedly by carbon monoxide poisoning.

Goga Zhvania told the Rezonansi that there are number of circumstances in the case which put the officials’ conclusions under suspicion. “When Nino [Zurab Zhvania’s widow] and I went to the Forensic Examinations Bureau, we were directly told that no fingerprints [of Zurab Zhvania] were found in the apartment [where his dead body was found],” he said.

Goga Zhvania declined to comment on other speculations about his brother’s assassination and said that he does not want to speak about this before the end of his inquiry. “I have much information, but I do not want to speak about it… but if the [official] investigation will drag-out, I will say everything. We know too much,” he added.

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