Businessman Irakli Rukhadze: Imedi TV report on Girgvliani killing triggered Patarkatsishvili-Saakashvili fallout

Businessman Irakli Rukhadze on Tuesday said the conflict between late businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili and imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili began after Imedi TV reported that the Georgian state was responsible for the killing of Sandro Girgvliani.

In his interview, Rukhadze said footage captured by security cameras at Patarkatsishvili's office played a key role in the case.

“Those cars were recorded by Badri’s cameras because his office was located there. Everyone thinks he lived at the Wedding Palace, but that was actually his office. He lived in Mtatsminda, where his family's home still is today. When those vehicles drove toward the place where that tragedy happened, where that poor young man was killed, they were captured by Badri's cameras. We had the footage, the licence plate numbers, and we established that the vehicles belonged to Merabishvili's ministry. They had government plates. Badri said Imedi should broadcast the footage, and nobody could stop us. Everyone tried to stop us - they approached me, they approached everyone - but they failed. That is where the explosion began”, he said.

“It happened very quickly. You say there was a year's difference, but it was not a year at all. Once Imedi reported that the state had killed Girgvliani, our relationship with the Government deteriorated irreversibly, at least up to a certain point”, Rukhadze noted.

Rukhadze said neither he was able to win public tenders, and even previously awarded contracts were cancelled.

“I participated quietly so my name would not appear. We managed to do that in several cases, but as soon as my involvement became known, we would immediately lose. If Badri's name appeared, it was even worse. That continued until the deal involving the railway and the exchange for Imedi took place”, he concluded.

The Girgvliani case concerned the abduction, beating and killing, on a winter night in 2006, of a 28-year old man by a group of senior law enforcement officers and the lack of an effective investigation and appropriate punishment.