TBILISI, December 1 (RIA Novosti) - Georgian investigators questioned former prime minister Vano Merabishvili on Saturday over his attempt to cross the state border with a forged passport, officials said.
The investigation is the latest in a series of cases brought against members of the ousted administration of President Mikheil Saakashvili.
Georgia's Interior Ministry said that Merabishvili was heading to Armenia with an official Georgian delegation on Friday, but was stopped by the border control officials. The passport submitted by the former prime minister bore the name of "Levan Maisuradze" next to a photo of Merabishvili, the ministry said. No immediate legal action was taken against him on Friday, but he was summoned for questioning next day.
About two dozen former government officials, including a former interior minister, have been arrested and charged since the October parliamentary elections in Georgia, when billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream coalition defeated Saakashvili's party. Saakashvili's supporters have claimed that the prosecution was politically motivated.
"I'd like to address Bidzina Ivanishvili. Our team is impossible to intimidate with threats, blackmailing, questioning and arrests," Merabishvili told reporters outside the Interior Ministry on Saturday. He dismissed the allegations voiced by the ministry.
