1995. ARREST
The 14th of October, 1995. Tbilisi. Rustaveli Avenue. 2 p.m. The car of Remi Vashakidze — Head of the Railroad Transport Department of Georgia — who was coming back home after a meeting with Georgian President, was blocked by several unknown cars. The men in plain clothes (as it came out later, those were men from the Ministry of the Interior) intercept and arrest the minister without producing any papers. They also arrest the deputy minister, the driver, as well as the Department Head’s son — choreographer Tamaz Vashakidze, who accidentally turned out to be in the car. Without explaining the reason, the policemen arrest the latter, put handcuffs on his hands and force him into another car, thus physically insulting him. The amazed people of Tbilisi looked at this legal abuse in a state of shock.
The arrested person was delivered to detention centre No. 5 at the Ministry of Interior of Georgia, where he was exposed to personal search, his money and personal things being seized. After that he was taken to a one-man cell.
Several hours later by order of investigators of the General Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry of Interior of Georgia Tamaz Vashakidze was brought to the Railroad Transport Department. There he had to be present during the search of his father’s bureau (in case of refusal they promised to initiate a criminal case against him for keeping drugs or for any other reason). In the presence of the General Prosecutor of Georgia, investigators from his office, heads of the State Security bodies, Ministry of Interior and the new Head of the Department Tamaz Vashakidze was forced to sign the protocol of search. After that, under escort and in handcuffs he was brought back to the cell of pre-trial detention centre, where he was held without reason for three more days.
