Georgia , Tbilisi, 21 July / Trend, N. Kirtskhalia /
Consideration of the criminal case over former Georgian parliament speaker Nino Burjanadze's husband, former head of the Georgian Border Police Badri Bitsadze in Tbilisi City Court, will begin at 3:00 p.m. on July 29, Bitsadze's lawyer Levan Samushia told Trend.
He said that the Head of Georgian Interior Ministry's Information-Analytical Department Shota Utiashvili has been summoned for questioning for Bitsadze's criminal trial. Some 65 witnesses, including Bitsadze's spouse, leader of "Democratic Movement - United Georgia", Nino Burjanadze, as well as one of the leaders of the opposition "National Forum" Gubaz Sanikidze, will be questioned for the defense, he said.
Samushia added that a report on the criminal case indicates that on the night of May 26, after protest rallies dispersed, a "Molotov cocktail" was found during the general ground inspection. "We demand to recognize the evidence as invalid", he stressed.
On the night of May 26, Georgian police dispersed a rally in the centre of Tbilisi. Two members of the "Democratic Movement - United Georgia" party, led by former Georgian parliament speaker Nino Burjanadze were detained, with accusations of homicide. The detainees are suspected of running down several people while trying to leave the city center, where Special Forces conducted operations to oust the opposition rally from Rustaveli Avenue, the Interior Ministry asserts.
Bitsadze is accused of organizing illegal armed forces. The trial will be held despite Bitsadze's escape, in his absentia.