Georgian Soccer Star Brother Murder Suspects Arrested

Four persons suspected of abduction and murder of Levan Kaladze, who is brother of Georgian footballer Kakhi Kaladze, who plays in AC Milan, were arrested, Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili and Prosecutor General announced at a news conference on February 17.

“On January 16 Levan Tsintsadze was arrested in St. Petersburg after the request of the Georgian law enforcement agencies… On January 10 Davit Asatiani was arrested in Switzerland also after our request. Early on February 17 Merab Amosulashvili was arrested by the Georgian police [in Georgia]…  Also today Temur Gagnidze was arrested in France. All these persons are suspected of abduction Levan Kaladze on May 29, 2001 for ransom. They are also suspected of killing [Levan Kaladze],” Interior Minister Merabishvili said.

He said that the Interior Ministry has recovered on January 7 a corpse and a DNA testing carried out by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation proved that it was Levan Kaladze.

Levan Kaladze’s fate remained unknown so far. Investigators say that Kaladze was killed one month after abduction.

General Prosecutor Zurab Adeishvili said that the dead body of Levan Kaladze was first found in July, 2001, but because of “negligence” of the law enforcement agency the corpse was not identified. “The General Prosecutor’s office will investigate this negligence,” Adeishvili said.