Opposition Lawmaker Beaten In Georgia

24 August 2005 -- Georgian authorities say an opposition lawmaker and beer-company official was beaten and left in a forest in Georgia.
Attackers seized Tamaz Kacheishvili near his home in the capital Tbilisi late yesterday and tied him to a tree in woods outside the capital, where he was found by a shepherd.

According to a leader of his Rightist Opposition party, Gogi Topadze, Kacheishvili was hospitalized with a concession, cuts, and bruises.

The Interior Ministry confirmed Kacheishvili was attacked, but declined to give details.

Kacheishvili is a Rightist Opposition deputy in the national parliament, which is dominated by supporters of President Mikheil Saakashvili, and is also commercial director of Georgian brewer Kazbegi.

Valeri Gelashvili, a member of the opposition Republican Party, was severely beaten last month by attackers who stopped his car. He claimed he was beaten by members of a department of the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of police.


(AP)