TBILISI. April 27 (Interfax-AVN) - Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has issued letters of commendation to officers and soldiers of the 25th Brigade, deployed in Batumi, Ajaria, for complying with their military oath and arriving in Tbilisi.
"A total of 55 servicemen, who left the rebellious unit and arrived in Tbilisi, have received letters of commendation for defending national interests and upholding the military oath," a source in the Georgian State Chancellery told Interfax-Military News Agency on Tuesday.
"The Georgian president also issued another decree, relieving Major General Roman Dumbadze, commander of the 25th Brigade, of his duties," the source said.
Tbilisi has already announced that the 25th Brigade (meaning officers and soldiers, who arrived in Tbilisi, since it is impossible to redeploy units, remaining in Batumi) has been redeployed to Tbilisi suburbs. Viktor Mikeladze has been appointed new commander. He is tasked with heading his units at the Dioskuria 2004 exercise to start outside Poti on Friday.
The source noted that Dumbadze was wanted by Georgian law- enforcement agencies as a traitor.
Georgian authorities accuse Dumbadze of supporting Ajarian leader Aslan Abashidze, and provoking his subordinates to follow suit during the political standoff between Georgian authorities and Ajaria. He is also charged with high treason, establishing an illegal armed unit, abusing his authority, illegally storing, procuring, and transporting arms and ammunition, as well as other crimes.
At the same time Dumbadze repeatedly said that he did not acknowledge high treason charges, filed by Saakashvili. He explained his failure to obey the order of the Georgian defense minister by the fact that the order was illegitimate, since under the Ajarian constitution a commander of a military unit, deployed in Ajaria, was subordinate to the head of the republic.
The 25th Motorized Rifle Brigade was 557-man strong. It was equipped with several tanks, nine APCs, and artillery pieces, with all the materiel remaining in Batumi for the moment. Dumbadze is still in control of brigade personnel, remaining in Batumi.