Georgia, Tbilisi, Nov.7 / Trend, N.Kirtskhalia /
Detention of Chief of General Staff of Georgian Armed Forces, Giorgi Kalandadze was carried out in a calm atmosphere, without excesses, Georgian Justice Minister Tea Tsulukiani said at a news briefing on Wednesday.
Kalandadze and chief of the 4th Brigade of Georgian Armed Forces Zurab Shamatava were detained this morning.
As Tsulukiani said, Kalandadze was searched. He was given the right to make several calls. "Like previously detained ex-Defense Minister Bacho Akhalaia, Kalandadze and Shamatava are charged on the third part of the 333rd article of the Criminal Code of Georgia," she said.
Tsulukiani stressed that Kalandadze and Shamatava have not been questioned yet.
As Chief Prosecutor of Georgia, Archil Kbilashvili said at the briefing, all three were detained on the facts of physical and verbal assault against 6 soldiers. "The soldiers were first physically and verbally assaulted in Akhalaia's office, where Kalandadze also was present, and then they were taken to the 4th Brigade in Vaziani, where they were again abused by former minister and the head of the General Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces in front of 30 witnesses on the parade ground," Kbilashvili said.
The detainees face imprisonment of 5 to 8 years for abuse of authority.