U.S. Envoy on ‘Coup Plot’ Tapes

U.S. Ambassador to Georgia John Tefft said on December 26: “While we do not intend to comment on the specifics in the tapes recently released by the Government of Georgia, we believe this is a serious situation.”

The U.S. diplomat was referring to video and audio recordings which suggest that presidential candidate Badri Patarkatsishvili and some of his political associates were plotting a coup.
 
“It is important that elections proceed and the people of Georgia are allowed to vote freely without coercion or intimidation,” Ambassador Tefft said in a statement. “The Georgian people need to be able to express their views and chose their government on January 5, 2008. We are happy to note that international monitoring of the elections will be in place. We have complete confidence in the ODIHR and OSCE monitoring of elections. They represent a clear international standard of election monitoring.”

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