Saakashvili accuses Premier Ivanishvili of facilitating release of Russian chief spy from prison
TBILISI. Jan 25 (Interfax) - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has accused Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili of facilitating the release of Vagan Chakhalian, a resident of the city of Akhalkalaki, who was sentenced to a lengthy prison term for a coup attempt.
"I believe the premier made a serious mistake, which will have a grave effect on Georgia within the next months and years, as Chakhalian, who was released six years ahead of time, was the chief of Russian special services in Georgia, who provided secret information to Russian intelligence services. This man demanded Javakheti's secession from Georgia and took practical steps toward this," Saakashvili said in a special televised address on Friday.
It was Russia that insisted on Chakhalian's release so as to cause problems to the construction of the Baku-Akhalkalaki-Kars railroad in Javakheti, he said.
Georgian media reported earlier that, while visiting Armenia earlier this year, Ivanishvili promised to the Armenian catholicos-patriarch that Georgia would review Chakhalian's case.
Talking to Georgian journalists at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Friday, Ivanishvili said he had nothing to do with Chakhalian's release, as his case was revised by law enforcement agencies.