TBILISI -- Three former high-ranking Criminal Police officials have been detained in Georgia in connection with the death of a man who was killed by police in 2006.
A former deputy chief of the Criminal Police, Irakli Pirtskhalava, and two high-ranking former subordinates were detained and questioned at the Prosecutor-General’s Office in Tbilisi on February 2.
The Prosecutor-General’s Office said the three were detained in connection with the death of Zurab Vazagashvili during a police operation in Tbilisi in 2006.
Vazagashvili's father, Yuri Vazagashvili, who was campaigning for the punishment of police officers involved in that operation, was killed on January 20 by a bomb concealed in a flower case at his son's grave.
One suspect's lawyer, Davit Khazhalia, said on February 2 that a total of 11 people had been detained in the case.
Interior Minister Aleksandr Chikaidze resigned on January 23, saying he felt "moral responsibility" for Yuri Vazagashvili's death.
Georgia has been troubled for years by accusations of police wrongdoing.
