TBILISI. Dec 25 (Interfax) - An appeals court in Tbilisi has granted a request by the prosecution on taking into custody Koba Kharshiladze, a former security chief of former Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania.
The Georgian Finance Ministry's Investigative Service had reported in mid-December that Lasha Purtskhvanidze, a former head of the Old Tbilisi district administration, and his former deputy Kharshiladze had been detained on suspicion of involvement in illegal entrepreneurship and legalization of criminal proceeds.
Purtskhvanidze and Kharshiladze were later released on bail of 400,000 lari (over $230,000) each.
However, the appeals court on Tuesday granted the prosecution's protest and ruled to arrest Kharshiladze in the courtroom. The court, however, upheld a bail ruling in relation to Purtskhvanidze.
The former ruling party United National Movement led by former President Mikheil Saakashvili suggested earlier that Kharshiladze's detention had something to do with a new investigation into Zhvania's death in 2005. The party is sure that the authorities are determined to "fabricate the case."
Zhvania died in February 2005. It was officially concluded that the death was accidental and that the former prime minister was poisoned by carbon monoxide due to inappropriate operation of a heater. The new Georgian authorities reopened the investigation in October 2012, following the change of government in the country.