TBILISI, DFWatch – The businessman who was harassed by Georgia’s Revenue Service last week is Fady Asly, Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) of Georgia and President and CEO of Agritechnics Holding.

Georgian daily Rezonansi reported this in its Monday edition, Mteli Kvira. It is the head of Georgia’s Association for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, Giorgi Isakadze, who claims this.

The revelation came in parliament Friday as the leader of the opposition Christian Democrat party scolded president Mikheil Saakashvili’s government for being engaged in a campaign of harassment against private business. Giorgi Targamadze said a person who is the leader of a business organization based in Georgia, and also head of one of the largest companies in the country, was harassed by the Revenue Service two days after he testified in a closed committee meeting with parliamentarians.

Isakadze, who was present at the committee meeting, says that only two people talked about a particular tax issue at the meeting: he and Fady Asly. The background was how to deal with tax debts. The Christian Democrats have suggested to raise the limit for how large the debt can be before the issue becomes a criminal case, from 25 000 to 100 000 lari.

ICC is the world’s largest business organization, founded in 1919 to promote trade and investment, open markets for goods and services, and the free flow of capital. Its headquarters are located in Paris, France, and the organization has hundreds of thousands of member companies in over 130 countries. ICC works closely with the United Nations, the World Trade Organizations and many other intergovernmental organizations.