Georgian with Alleged Links to Azeri “Coup Plot” Arrested
News broke on August 30 that Georgian citizen Merab Jibuti was arrested by Azeri border guards for alleged illegal crossing of the Georgian-Azerbaijani border on August 26, Georgian and Azeri media sources reported.
Merab Jibuti is suspected by the Azerbaijani security service of being linked to Ruslan Bashirli, chief of the Yeni Fikir youth organization, who was arrested on August 3 and charged with plotting a coup in Azerbaijan.
The Georgian and Azeri media also reported that chief of the Georgian intelligence service Batu Kutelia has recently visited Azerbaijan. The Georgian Intelligence Department has confirmed this report.
But the Georgian Interior Ministry denied that a visit of Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili took place in Azerbaijan on August 15. However, the Azerbaijani state-run news agency AzerTag reported that Merabishvili met with Aliyev.
No details of the visit were reported, but the Georgian media speculates that the both of these visits ? by Merabishvili and Kutelia ? were linked to the investigation of an alleged coup plot in Azerbaijan.
The Azeri opposition claims that allegations of a coup attempt are politically-motivated. The arrested Bashirli also denies charges.
According to the Azerbaijani General Prosecutor?s Office, Ruslan Bashirli met with an Armenian special service agent in Tbilisi, while he was visiting the Georgian capital in late July. Merab Jibuti also participated in this meeting, during which Bashirli received USD 2,000 from the Armenian special service agent.
Azeri media sources reported that Merab Jibuti was arrested while crossing the Georgian-Azerbaijani border without any identification. Reportedly, Jibuti had contact information of some activists from the Yeni Fikir youth organization.
It is unclear why Jibuti was going to visit Azerbaijan. The Azeri media reported that Jibuti planned to meet with Ruslan Bashirli, but as the detention of Jibuti occurred on August 26, by that time Bashirli had already been arrested (on August 3) by the Azeri security service.
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