TBILISI, DFWatch–The family of a forest ranger who was killed in 2008 demonstrated in Zugdidi Wednesday.
Ranger Davit Tsindeliani is still formally missing, but is believed to have been killed in August 2008, after the war between Russia and Georgia.
His family demonstrated outside the office of the National Movement party, which seized power in a peaceful coup in 2003, and remained the only influential political bloc for almost a decade. Violations during its rule are being reinvestigated under the new government.
The Interior Ministry on Tuesday published details about the investigation into the Tsindeliani case and accused former Constitutional Security Department official Roman Shamatava of having murdered him.
Tsindeliani worked at the environment protection inspection and was targeted because of a phone call with a Russian girl, his acquaintance, during the war, after which he was accused of reporting military secrets.
He was summoned to the Forestry Department in Tbilisi, but disappeared on the way to the meeting.
The National Movement’s candidate for Zugdidi gamgebeli, Tengiz Gunava, claimed that the demonstration by the Tsindeliani family was a ploy by the government to undermine his popularity ahead of the local election on June 15.
Crowds clashed with police as demonstrators tried unsuccessfully to break into the National Movement office.
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