Patarkatsishvili Denies Plotting Coup

Presidential candidate Badri Patarkatsishvili said in a written statement that the authorities? allegation that he and his associates were plotting a coup was ?yet another provocation.?

The General Prosecutor?s Office said on December 24 that MP Valery Gelbakhiani, who is head of Patarkatsishvili?s campaign headquarters, was a suspect in a conspiracy to overthrow the government. To back its allegations, the General Prosecutor?s Office, released a covertly recorded video tape of a meeting between Gelbakhiani and Irakli Kodua, head of the Interior Ministry?s Special Operations Department (SOD). The latter was acting under cover, feigning to be an ally of Patarkatsishvili?s, according to the General Prosecutor?s Office. Kodua also met with Patarkatsishvili in London. The tycoon has confirmed that the meeting took place.

?On December 23, 2007 at the request of Irakli Kodua, I met with him in London,? Patarkatsishvili said in the statement. ?Valery Gelbakhiani told me that Kodua wanted to meet with me. I guessed that it was yet another provocation staged by the authorities, so I asked my security to make audio and video records of this meeting. This provocation once again confirms that the accusations raised by the authorities against me are groundless. I have asked my lawyers in Great Britain to inform Scotland Yard about one more provocation planned by the Georgian authorities. Saakashvili?s regime has finally shown the people that he has exhausted all political resources to win the election.?

MP Gelbakhiani has also confirmed that he met with Kodua, but said that the tape was edited. He told Rustavi 2 TV in a phone conversation that his main goal was to have an ally within the Interior Ministry so as to prevent a break up of possible protest rallies after the January 5 election.

In a taped video recording, Gelbakhiani tells the Interior Ministry official that he also had contacts with ?Gachechiladze?s team? ? referring to presidential candidate Levan Gachechiladze, who is backed by the nine-party opposition coalition. Political figures from the coalition, however, have denied having involvement in the alleged plot.

Davit Usupashvili, the leader of the Republican Party, said that the bloc had relations with Patarkatsishvili ?and also with other presidential candidates? but these relations were mainly about election tactics, which had nothing to do ?with what we have seen today.?

?We are only preparing for January 5 [election day] and these are all attempts by the authorities to distract public attention from [January 5] to other issues,? Kakha Kukava, the leader of the Conservative Party, said.

MP Zurab Tkemaladze, the leader of the Industrialist Party, which backs Davit Gamkrelidze?s presidential candidacy, said the issue was ?very serious? and needed an impartial investigation. He, however, also added: ?It is so difficult now to understand who is playing whose game.?

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