GEORGIA: Court verdict expected in trial of man accused of throwing a grenade at Bush during his visit to Georgia
Record ID:
643459
GEORGIA: Court verdict expected in trial of man accused of throwing a grenade at Bush during his visit to Georgia
- Title: GEORGIA: Court verdict expected in trial of man accused of throwing a grenade at Bush during his visit to Georgia
- Date: 11th January 2006
- Summary: SLV PEOPLE INSIDE THE COURTHOUSE
- Embargoed: 26th January 2006 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Georgia
- Country: Georgia
- Reuters ID: LVADC3T9XW12Q8FJ8B6KK7XN8L8F
- Story Text: The trial of a Georgian man, Vladimir Arutunyan,
accused of trying to assassinate the US and Georgian
presidents entered its closing phase on Wednesday (January
11), as the court was expected to resumed for closing
statements.
Aruthunyan is accused of an attack against US president
Bush and for the murder of an anti-terrorism officer.
Judges are expected to reach a verdict by Wednesday.
Arutunyan was arrested in July last year after a
special operation in which an anti-terrorism officer was
killed.
Defence lawyer Liza Djaparinze said that their was
insufficient proof in which to convict him of murder of the
anti-terrorist officer.
"There are no weighty arguments proving that he has
committed any crime. In a murder case, prosecution asks for
a life sentence. On the murder spot, or actually in the
body of the victim, the experts did not find a bullet, and
they couldn't determine what type of weapon made the
wounds which caused death," she said to journalists outside
the courtroom.
In regards to the attempted attack on Bush, U.S.
officials said at the time the grenade only failed to
explode because of a malfunction and landed within 30
metres (100 feet) of Bush as he spoke to tens of thousands
of people in Tbilisi's Freedom Square.
Soon after his arrest Arutunyan confessed to throwing
the grenade and a video tape of him being questioned by
police was released to the local media by the Georgian
Interior Ministry.
The security scare marred Bush's trip to Georgia,
intended to show U.S. support for the West-leaning
government that came to power after a democratic revolution
20 months ago.
Officials said the grenade could have caused major
injuries in the close-packed crowd, the largest gathering
of people on the square since the "Rose Revolution" led by
now-President Mikhail Saakashvili. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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