Controversial Georgian Official Reappointed

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has appointed a former Interior Ministry official who is under investigation for alleged abuse of office as the governor of the western province of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti.

Tengiz Gunava was the chief of the Interior Ministry's General Inspection Department.

He has been arrested twice since Saakashvili’s United National Movement party was defeated by Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream coalition in October parliamentary elections.

Gunava was released on bail both times.

Right after Saakashvili had announced Gunava's appointment, Georgia's Prosecutor-General's Office stated that the investigations against Gunava were completed and his case was sent to the Tbilisi City Court.

When announcing his appointment, Saakashvili called Gunava "a decent man and a hero of the Russian-Georgian war of August 2008."