He has also pleaded guilty to large-scale swindling and abuse of power. Okruashvili paid for his freedom not only with admissions - he was released on the bail of 10 million Georgian lari (over $6 million) - an unprecedented sum for Georgian justice.
Now the ex-defense minister is at home. To believe his lawyer Eki Beselia, he is absolutely inadequate. He insists that he has not turned down lawyers or signed a single document, and does not know who paid the bail. But no matter how much the opposition is emphasizing that confessions were made under duress and even use of psychotropic drugs, his political demise is already a fair accompli. The new hero and his party have moved into the shadow.
In a sense, Okruashvili let down the opposition, which was gaining serious dividends from his arrest. It was winning by points when he was kept in prison. But as soon as he was released (even though temporarily - until the trial), the positions of the parliamentary majority and the opposition have become equal.
Now the opposition is again trying to gain points, this time by using Patarkatsishvili. His personal aircraft was still airborne when the Executive Committee has removed him from the position of the chairman of the Georgian Olympic Committee. To some extent, this was even a bigger scandal than the incident with Okruashvili. Moreover, the opposition believes that the whole story with accusations and repentance was designed as a prelude for a campaign against Patarkatsishvili.
The authorities charged him with organizing a conspiracy as soon as Okruashvili made his admissions. Later on, this subject was hushed up but Patarkatsishvili was not reinstated in his position.
Minister of Culture Georgy Gabashvili said that "the Olympic Committee should not become a cover-up for dirty political games. The Georgian sports cannot be headed by a person who tried to discredit the president and the government of Georgia. Badri Patarkatsishvili is engaged in anti-government activities."
The committee's session was attended by 20 people. Repeated world chess champion Nona Gaprindashvili was the only one to vote against Patarkatsishvili's dismissal.
It seems that the authorities will not take Patarkatsishvili to court for involvement in the conspiracy, although they are confident that he acted at one with Okruashvili.
Majority leader Giga Bokeria bluntly said that "this man has a natural instinct - to weaken the government and create the oligarch-ruled Yeltsin Russia. All legitimate businessmen in Georgia will be encouraged regardless of their political views. This is a free country, and nobody is going to take action against Patarkatsishvili and his television company."
Okruashvili himself admitted his close links with Patarkatsishvili several days before his arrest: "We often meet and discuss our plans for the future." Patarkatsishvili confirmed this as well. Judging by all, Okruashvili was presented with direct incriminating evidence of their conspiracy before he made his admissions.
It would be interesting to know why Patarkatsishvili returned to Georgia and on what terms. What agreement has he reached with the authorities, if at all? He looks quite confident although the parliamentary majority was convinced that he would not dare come back to Tbilisi. But he has even made some statements and credited the people with Okruashvili's release.
Despite everything, Patarkatsishvili has received public guarantees that he will not be extradited to Russia. The businessman is suspected of having misappropriated huge sums. The Moscow court authorized his arrest after Okruashvili's admissions although he has been on the wanted list since 2002.
There are many attempts to see the Russian trace in this scandal although Moscow has never liked Okruashvili, and Patarkatsishvili is on the Interpol list at Russia's request. The problem is that the ex-defense minister's statements sound in unison with those by many Russian policymakers. The Konstantin Kosachev-led Russian members of the European Parliament have demanded that a commission should be set up to investigate independently the death of Zurab Zhvania. This explains why the entire opposition is being accused of pro-Russian orientation.
It is difficult to predict what happens next. Maybe, Patarkatsishvili will give up all activities in Georgia, sell his assets, including the Imedi television company and will move to London for good. He says he is not going to sell the company, though.
Will he want to finance the Olympic fund and Tbilisi's Dynamo? It is rumored that Silkroad, one of the most influential Georgian companies, which owns Tbilisi's Lokomotiv, has displayed interest in this team. Patarkatsishvili's presidential ambitions are being discussed in parallel with his business plans.
As for the opposition, it has taken time-out until the residents of Georgian regions gather for an act of protest on November 2. The movement "Georgia without the president" has been launched. The authorities do not take these actions seriously and have not reacted to them. But Saakashvili's opponents hope that the government will have to make concessions because they are determined to bring masses of people to the November rally. Time will show.
Mamuka Areshidze is a member of the RIA Novosti Expert Council.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
