Attempted prison breakout in Georgia had political motivation - officials

Alexander Klimchuk 3/27/06

At least seven inmates were killed on March 27, as authorities in Georgia thwarted an attempted mass breakout at a Tbilisi prison. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili characterized the escape attempt, which occurred the same day as a suspected saboteur damaged a power line, as part of a conspiracy to destabilize the country.

It took police, backed by a crack Justice Ministry security unit, roughly two hours to put down the uprising, which authorities assert was designed to enable the escape of inmates at Tbilisi's Prison No. 5. According to officials, at least 22 inmates and two law enforcement officers were wounded during the operation.

Speaking at an emergency session of the Georgian National Security Council, Saakashvili praised police and Justice Ministry officials for preventing a "disaster." Had the mass breakout succeeded, up to 4,000 inmates might have escaped and Georgia could have been engulfed by a wave of disorder, Saakashvili claimed. The president also defended the use of massive force in response to the uprising. "No one is happy with human casualty – [it] does not matter what kind of men they are – but we will protect with all available means our society [and] rule of law," the Civil Georgia web site quoted Saakashvili as saying.

Saakashvili and Parliament Speaker Nino Burjanadze both hinted that forces "interested in the destabilization of the country" were behind the jail-break attempt. Saakashvili and Burjanadze also indicated that they didn't think it was a coincidence that the prison incident and the power-line sabotage occurred on the same day. A suspected saboteur damaged the Kavkasioni high-voltage power line in the early hours of March 27. The damage occurred in the Kodori Gorge, a Georgian-controlled area of the breakaway region of Abkhazia, located not far from Russia. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. According to Energy Minister Nika Gilauri, repairs to the line would take about one day, Civil Georgia reported.

"[The prison riot] was not a spontaneous act," Civil Georgia quoted Burjanadze as saying. "What happened today in the prison, what has happened today in the Kodori Gorge, is part of a chain and this a very serious attack directed toward triggering ... destabilization in the country."

Saakashvili said powerful organized criminal elements were involved in the prison breakout. Since assuming the presidency in early 2004, the Saakashvili administration has pressed an anti-corruption drive aimed at breaking organized crime's influence over the country's economy and bureaucracy. This "merciless fight," as Saakashvili termed it, has made organized crime bosses desperate. Over the last four months, Saakashvili said, "we have been receiving threats about a massive jailbreak and massive disorders."

The March 27 prison incident will prompt the government to intensify its efforts to curb organized crime. "If these people [organized criminals] decided to challenge us, we will receive this challenge," Saakashvili said. "Let everyone – the criminals and their political and other kind of supporters – [know] ... our streets will be cleansed of this criminal trash through the protection of all laws and the principles of democracy."

Opposition leaders called for a cabinet shakeup, saying the prison breakout attempt was a byproduct of government mismanagement. David Gamkrelidze, leader of the opposition New Right party, alleged that some of the inmates involved in the breakout attempt may have been murdered.

Meanwhile, the American ambassador to the OSCE, Julie Finley, said in a March 27 address that Georgia's "friends and allies" must help the country improve its democratic framework to help "ensure the success of [its] historic reforms." In the address, made during a session of the OSCE's Special Permanent Council in Vienna, Finley praised the Saakashvili administration's "hard work directed at building peace and democracy," according to a transcript released by the US mission to the OSCE. Finley also stressed American support for Georgia's territorial integrity and the peaceful resolution of the South Ossetia and Abkhazia separatist conflicts. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Georgia and Russia at present appear to be on a collision course over South Ossetia. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Finley went on the caution Georgian leaders that "in the global struggle for liberty, our duties begin at home." She identified several areas, including "the independence of the judiciary, the status of minority communities and freedom of the media," as areas of concern to both the United States and the OSCE. Georgia's rapid improvement in these areas, along with increased international support, could potentially "transform a fragile peace into a lasting one," Finley said. "Her [Georgia's] neighbors, especially the government of the Russian Federation, have everything to gain from a prosperous, peaceful and democratic Georgia."

Editor's Note: Alexander Klimchuk is a freelance writer and photographer based in Georgia.