Opposition Demands to Charge Shevardnadze with Treason

Parliamentarians from the opposition Conservative Party said on March 20 that Georgia’s former President Eduard Shevardnadze should be arrested and charged with treason.

At a news conference MP Koba Davitashvili, leader of the Conservative Party, unveiled a taped phone conversation between two men. MP Davitashvili said that they are Eduard Shevardnadze and Aslan Abashidze, ex-leader of Adjara Autonomous Republic.

He also said that the conversation was taped in November 2003 before the Rose Revolution. In a conversation, the man who is claimed by Davitashvili to be to  Shevardnadze offers Abashidze to declare independence of Adjara from Georgia. MP Davitashvili said that Shevardnadze wanted to survive amid popular protest through fostering unrest in Adjara.

“Although we are sure that this tape is not a fake, but we will hand it over to the General Prosecutor’s Office to ascertain that the tape is real,” MP Davitashvili said.

He did not specify how the tape became available for the Conservative party.

A portion of this conversation between the two men is as follows:

“What has happened to Milosevic, the same is happening now in Tbilisi and we should not let this happen, I will not let this happen. I know that after [Tbilisi] they [opposition] will come here [in Adjara] and I will have to fight, so I’d better fight now in Tbilisi together with you,” a voice, allegedly of Aslan Abashidze says in a phone conversation.

“It will be my advice and it will be good if you pay attention to this: there should be voiced in your demands that his arrival and unrest caused by his arrival, you know whom I mean [apparently by-then opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili], made you to state that if these kinds of people [come into power, Adjara] will have to part from Georgia. But of course I will not let this [Adjara’s secession] happen, but this should be mentioned in [your] speeches,” a voice, allegedly belonging to Eduard Shevardnadze, responds.

Another tape presented by the Conservative Party allegedly includes a phone conversation between Aslan Abashidze and Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze, which according to the Conservative Party, took place after the phone talks between Abashidze and Shevardnadze.

“I know one thing, if developments continue this way, Georgia will no longer have this territory [Adjara],” Abashidze says.

“No Batono [a polite form of addressing a man in Georgia] Aslan, do not say that. No one has right to say that. I am sure that even you will not let this happen,” Burjanadze replies.