Opposition Calls for Probe into ‘Confidence Group’

Four lawmakers from the ruling party with unrestricted access to information about defense spending and procurements should also be held responsible if wrongdoing in the Ministry of Defense is confirmed, Tina Khidasheli of the opposition Republican Party said on October 4.

The four lawmakers ? Davit Kirkitadze, Givi Targamadze, Beso Jugeli and Nika Rurua ? are all members of the parliamentary commission known as Group of Confidence. The group is in charge of monitoring defense spending, including that related to top secret projects.

Khidasheli claims that the four parliamentarians should have known about financial violations which, according to the General Prosecutor?s Office, occured in the MoD while Irakli Okruashvili was the defense minister.

Along with money laundering and extortion charges, Okruashvili is also accused of misuse of office and negligence while serving as the minister. The latter two charges include several separate episodes.

According to the General Prosecutor?s Office, in June 2006 USD 205,000 of Ministry of Defense (MoD) funds was embezzled through illegal transactions on the procurement of fuel.

In January 2005, according to the General Prosecutor?s Office, Okruashvili, who was at that time the defense minister, proposed that his close friend, businessman Kibar Khalvashi, set up a construction company, International Building Company. The company eventually became ?the exclusive contractor? for the Defense Ministry in construction projects worth GEL 140 million, according to the General Prosecutor?s Office.

In a third episode, the prosecutors claim, ?rusty bullets? were purchased for USD 5.1 million by the MoD in December 2005.

?If any violations have been revealed at the Defense Ministry, the four parliamentarians, with access to information about defense procurements, should be held responsible at least for negligence,? Khidasheli said at a news conference.

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