Son Of Georgia's First President In 'Critical Condition' After Attack

TBILISI -- A son of Georgia's first President Zviyad Gamsakhurdia is in a critical condition after a violent attack in the capital, officials and medics say.

A doctor at Tbilisi’s Khechinashvili hospital told reporters on December 20 that 43-year-old Tsotne Gamsakhurdia was hospitalized overnight with multiple skull fractures and stab wounds on his body.

"Although two surgeries -- one on his head and one on his chest -- went smoothly, the patient remains in a very critical condition," doctor Nikoloz Kvachadze said, adding that additional surgeries may be needed.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement that a probe had been launched into "attempted murder."

In 2009, Tsotne Gamsakhurdia was sentenced to 9 years in prison for attempted murder and illegal gun possession.

His term was later extended by a year for violations of prison regulations.

But Gamsakhurdia was released from prison early after he was pardoned in 2012 by then-President Mikheil Saakashvili.

He was also indicted of spying for Russia in 2007, but the charge was later dropped.

His father Zviyad Gamsakhurdia, a prominent Soviet-era dissident, led the country between 1991 and 1992.

He was killed in Georgia's western region of Samegrelo on December 31, 1993, in circumstances that remain unclear.