TBILISI, FEBRUARY 20, 2004, RIA NOVOSTI - The new Georgian Cabinet of Ministers is going to ask Parliament to grant legal immunity to ex-President Eduard Shevardnadze. This is according to a press release circulated Friday by the incumbent Mikheil Saakashvili's press service.
Presidential spokespeople dismissed as false the reports that Shevardnadze's arrest was allegedly in the works.
The reports came in the wake of the detention of Gia Jokhtaberidze, the former president's son-in-law, who runs the Georgian telecommunications giant Magticom. This prompted fears that Shevardnadze, too, may be placed in custody.
