APA reports quoting Novosti Gruziya that 46-year-old politician is suspected of kidnapping.
Along with Surmanidze, Georgi Burulava and Murtaz Meurnishvili have also been detained. Deputy chief of Constitutional Security Department Soso Topuridze said the abovementioned persons threatened to illegally arrest a German investor and made him pay $270,000. If convicted they may be sentenced up to ten years in jail.
Surmanidze, who was elected from the party led by Ajarian leader Aslan Abashidze in 1999, was promoted to vice-speaker. Later, he opposed to Abashidze and joined the team of future Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania. After the “velvet revolution†he chaired Batumi mayor’s office and parliament’s agrarian committee. He has left the politics recently.
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CIS
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