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Georgian opposition leader Patarkatsishvili dies in London -2

// 13.02.2008 13:25 //
Georgian opposition leader Badri Patarkatsishvili, accused by Georgian authorities of attempting to instigate a coup during protests in the South Caucasus country last year, has died in London.

His death, which is thought to have occurred late on Tuesday, was announced on Georgian public television as the result of a heart attack.

Patarkatsishvili, 52, was one of the most influential opposition leaders in the ex-Soviet republic and Georgia's richest man. He came third in the recent January 5 presidential polls, garnering 7.1% of the vote.

"Medical experts are ascertaining the cause of death [of Patarkatsishvili]. It's my view that he was stressed over recent events in Georgia. I think this was the cause of Badri Patarkatsishvili's death," said Rati Shartava, the former head of the tycoon's campaign headquarters.

However, Patarkatsishvili's personal doctor later said that the tycoon had never suffered from heart problems. An autopsy will be held today.

In an interview with The Sunday Times in December, the tycoon said he feared he might be the target of an assassination plot. He referred to a tape recording allegedly containing a conversation between a Georgian interior ministry official and a Chechen warlord.

"Whoever was to do this . . . we want to be able to explain to the people in Georgia that it was Russia," the alleged official tells the warlord during the recording.

A warrant was issued by Georgian authorities for Patarkatsishvili's arrest late last year on charges of plotting a coup during November street protests in Tbilisi against Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. The businessman denied the accusations, although admitted offering a large sum of money to a senior interior ministry official in a bid to secure police support for protesters. The billionaire's bank accounts at Georgia's Standartbank were also frozen in connection with the case.

The businessman also owned a stake in the Georgian independent television station Imedi, which aired anti-government broadcasts until it was closed down by Georgian authorities in November. The station was later reopened, although its future status remains uncertain.

The coup charges came days after presidential elections in which Saakashvili was reelected as Georgian president, gaining around 53% of the vote. The opposition claims that the vote was rigged.

Patarkatsishvili repeatedly delayed his arrival in Georgia for election campaigning over what he said was a lack of security guarantees from the government.

Badri Patarkatsishvili was born into a Jewish family in Tbilisi. His involvement in the Soviet-era Communist youth organization, the Komsomol, subsequently helped him secure important contacts. His business activities were closely associated with Boris Berezovsky, a fugitive Russian tycoon living in London, who faces corruption and coup plotting charges in Russia.

The Georgian tycoon had himself faced a series of corruption charges, including in the case of Berezovsky's LogoVAZ group, of which Patarkatsishvili was a deputy general director.

The tycoon lived in Moscow for several years in the 1990s and was involved in the Russian media business. He was also the chairman of the Georgian soccer club Dynamo Tbilisi.



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