Koba Bekauri: “Adeishvili Told Me He Would Arrest and Destroy Me Unless I Give Money to Shalva Ramishvili”

Interpresnews

On November 26, a member and former MP of the National Movement Koba Bekauri visited Shalva Ramishvili’s morning program on Maestro.

Koba Bekauri said decided to speak on the program because he wants to finally remove the burden from which he has been carrying for many years. He claims that governmental officials started working on a plan to somehow quiet journalist Shalva Ramishvili; Bekauri was invited to Data Akhalaia’s [former head of Constitutional Security Department of MIA] working room “to arrange everything in accordance to their instructions.”

“Vano Merabishvili [former Minister of Interior], Zurab Adeishvili [former Minister of Justice] and Davit Akhalaia were in the room. They said I had to offer money to you and they would arrest you afterwards; initially I resisted – claiming I was not right person for their plan. Adeishvili told me – either I will destroy you or you should give him money,” Bekauri told Ramishvili in the program.

He added that arresting people was ordinary fact and it did not make any difference whether you had committed crime or not.

As for 30 000 lari, which was offered to Shalva Ramishvili, Bekauri said he did not have that money.

“Vano [Merabishvili] personally called Meskheli and he brought the money,” Bekauri said. With regard to secret video-footage, Bekauri recalled that he arrived at CSD office where Gigi Ugulava met him and he gave the video-recording to him.

As for Mikheil Saakashvili’s role in this case, Bekauri said the president was eager to stop activities of the TV-Company 202. Bekauri doubts Adeishvili was agreeing to case details with Saakashvili.

According to Koba Bekauri, testimony against Shalva Ramishvili was handed to him in written form and he signed it without reading it.

Shalva Ramishvili asked why those people selected Koba Bekauri for this case and Bekauri said “they could select even their own brother. Nobody could resist their oppression.”

Bekauri was asked whether he had received any financial benefits or present for having blamed Shalva Ramishvili but he said it did not happen.

“There were several powers in the terminal, where my family had an interest, who wanted to get hold the terminal and they succeeded. In fact they ordered me to register the terminal to another person. When I did it, they did not even pay the money and I lost the terminal,” Bekauri said.

He also stated that he left parliament without even filing resignation application and “they arranged everything alone.”

Founders of TV-Company 202 Shalva Ramishvili and Davit Kokhreidze were arrested in August 2005. They were blamed of extorting 100 000 USD from MP Koba Bekauri. Ramishvili and Kokhreidze were arrested based on the video-footage which Bekauri had handed to law enforcement bodies.

See video: “Adeishvili Told Me He Would Arrest and Destroy Me Unless I Give Money to Shalva Ramishvili”