19:00, 22 December 2012

Court in Georgia releases Director General of "Rustavi-2" on bail

Today, the Tbilisi City Court has appointed a bail of 30,000 laris as a precondition for Nika Gvaramiya, Director General of the "Rustavi-2" TV Company, to go at large. A similar decision was made in relation to other figurants in the case of bribery and forgery of documents.

Gvaramiya was detained on December 19, along with several other former members of the government of the country, who figured in the case of setting up a fictitious company "Elenem Service", by means of which, according to investigators, the company "Inter RAO-UES" had been exempted from paying taxes in the amount of one million dollars. Gvaramiya and the other defendants deny any wrongdoing.

The prosecution demanded the arrest, arguing of the "intellectual capabilities" of the defendant, while the defence demanded Gvaramiya's release on bail. Gvaramiya has to pay the bail within 20 days; and then he will leave his custody, the "Georgia Online" reports.

Preliminary hearings are scheduled for January 31, the "News-Georgia" reports.