Bitsadze Confirms Bribes Again

Proof of the Gachechiladze- Saakashvili meeting have got Vano Merabishvili( Interior Minister) and Mikheil Saakashvili, leader of the Democratic Movement-United Georgia, Nino Burjanadze, said, on December 26. She confirmed the information given to the newspaper Asaval-Dasavali by her husband, Badri Bitsadze, claiming that Gachechiladze, co leader of the Georgian Party took a definite sum of money from Saakashvili to cease street rallies.

Georgian society should not trust Gachechiladze and the Georgian Party, Burjanadze claims, “After the presidential elections, Levan Gachechiladze, at the meeting with Saakashvili, started his speech about his Dream Bank. Davit Usupashvili (leader of Republican Party) nearly fell off his chair on hearing this.”

As she says, right away Saakashvili became interested in the amount of finances necessary for opening the Bank. Gachechiladze responded that 10-12 million was needed. Saakashvili stopped speaking about it in presence of Burjanadze and Usupashvili, and proposed Gachechiladze to discuss the issue the following day. Burjanadze alleges that the meeting took place. She can’t specify whether Gachechiladze received money from the authority, though she notes that Saakashvili and Merabishvili allege that half of the money was given to Gachechiladze. “Saakashvili was scared before the meeting. After the meeting, however, he became absolutely calm. Saakashvili preserved the government by making a deal with the opposition and keeps on doing so by having a certain support within the opposition," Burjanadze claims. She says that Merabishvili and Saakashvili have video materials proving the meeting, however she did not specify whether her family would have such proof or not.

Bitsadze has once again confirmed his words in another interview for Asaval-Dasavali newspaper, “I want everyone to know that I confirm the facts and I am ready to repeat them publicly. I am a witness to it all. I have seen and heard everything. I can speak about it publicly with Saakashvili and Gachechiladze.”

Georgian party called Burjanadze’s statements as a “despaired woman’s curse” and underlined that Gachechiladze himself would give statements and an adequate response, “We ask pardon to Georgian society because we have protected these people once, those who had committed many crimes and offences against Georgian people, since we thought that Saakashvili and his team were the main evil for the country," Koka Guntsadze, General Secretary of the party, said.

Leader of Free Georgia Kakha Kukava called Bitsadze’s accusations against Levan Gachechiladze “A form of strange conviction and mafia methods.” Herewith, According to Kukava, the Opposition leaders meetings with the Government were known to all members of the Opposition.

Representative of New Rights, Mamuka Katsutadze considers that the confrontation must be brought to an end, “Meaning that Gachechiladze and Burjanadze should answer the questions from Georgian society, for Georgian people should decide who is who, as the current situation reflects negatively upon the opposition.”

As analyst Gia Khukhashvili told The Messenger, “There is one fact in the interview in which I am interested the most. Bitsadze, as a deputy head unmasks his chief (meaning current interior minister) in bribe giving. I would have one question for Bitsadze, whether he confirms this or not. In case it is confirmed the question of responsibility of those people should be determined," Khukhashvili said.