Scandal Widens
On March 5, events began to gather pace as Imedi television broadcast another report questioning the official version of the death of a former anti-drug policeman, Gia Telia. The programme indicated that some officials from the Interior Ministry could have been involved in the killing of Mr Telia. The former policeman, who retired in 2003, was killed in a clash with the Interior Ministry’s Special Operations Department (SOD) on February 16, 2006. According to the Ministry, Telia, a suspected drug dealer, was killed by police after he opened fire.
The Ministry’s press office distributed a video of the operation to the national television networks showing the body of Telia lying on the floor of his apartment holding a pistol in his right hand. However in an interview with Imedi television, relatives of Telia claim that he would not hold a gun in his right hand as he was left-handed. Additionally they claimed that Telia had alleged that certain officials from the Ministry wanted 'to get rid of him' because of information he possessed about their possible involvement in drug trafficking. In a 2005 interview the former police officer claimed the police had unsuccessfully tried to arrest him under fabricated charges. He was then attacked and injured by a gunshot. In the interview Telia did not name the officials from the Interior Ministry who were apparently interested in his elimination, but speculated that Irakli Kodua, Chief of the Interior Ministry’s Special Operations Department (SOD), 'was ordered' to organize his assassination.
At the same time several opposition groupings, including the Rightist Opposition and Georgian Labour Party, announced their intention to launch street protests against the government in an attempt to force Vano Merabishvili to resign.
Read more about this topic: Sandro Girgvliani Murder Case
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