Shevardnadze’s Relative Kept in Detention

The Tbilisi district court rejected today appeal of ex-President Eduard Shevardnadze’s son-in-law Gia Jokhtaberidze and refused to release him on bail of GEL 2 millions (up to $1 million), which was offered by the family.

On February 22 the lower court in Tbilisi sentenced Gia Jokhtaberidze to three-month pre-trial detention pending investigation.

General Prosecutor’s Office accuses Jokhtaberidze of tax evasion. Jokhtaberidze, who owns shares in Georgia’s biggest mobile phone company MagtiCom, was arrested early on February 20 aboard of a scheduled Tbilisi-Paris flight in Tbilisi airport.

“It is nothing more but a political persecution against our family,” Manana Shevardnadze, daughter of Eduard Shevardnadze and a wife of Gia Jokhtaberidze told reporters after the trial.

“It is a false,” Paata Shevardnadze, son of Georgia’s ex-President said.

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