Eurasia Press & News
TBILISI, Georgia — A Georgian court ruled Wednesday that eight opposition supporters accused of plotting a coup and terrorist acts should remain in custody for two months as they await trial.
Police released video recordings this week allegedly showing the men trying to buy weapons with the intent of causing violence during opposition protests next month.
Most of those sent to detention are supporters of the party of Nino Burdzhanadze, a former parliamentary speaker who once was one of President Mikheil Saakashvili’s closest allies.
Burdzhanadze broke with Saakashvili last year and now is one of the key figures in the call for big rallies on April 9 that will demand that Saakashvili step down.
Burdzhanadze accuses police of planting weapons at supporters’ homes.
The saga has echoes of 2007, when the government accused opposition figures, based partly on video evidence, of trying to stage a coup during opposition protests that were smashed by police.
On Wednesday, officials released more recordings of alleged coup plans by opposition members. One recording purportedly shows a member of Burdzhanadze’s party, Roina Bukhrashvili, as saying that a civil war would be in the party’s interests.
Dissatisfaction with Saakashvili has grown since a brief but devastating war with Russia last August.
