After the Revolution

“It’s only in Georgia that I’m this lovely old man, this grandfather figure. If they want to really know my background, they should ask in Russia — they know me differently there.”

This is the quote an article at Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty used to introduce Badri Patarkatsishvili — a billionaire with a white handlebar mustache who became the richest citizen of his country in part by profiting from privatizations in Russia after the break-up of the Soviet Union; a recent candidate in Georgia’s presidential election; and a co-owner with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. of the recently shut down opposition television station, Imedi TV.

Prosecutors now claim to have tapes of Patarkatsishvili offering a bribe of $100 million to a government official in exchange for discrediting the presidential election by creating the appearance of massive voter fraud. Patarkatsishvili helped lead protests against recently re-elected Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili in November. Police forced Imedi TV off the air and accused Patarkatsishvili of planning a coup.

Patarkatsishvili dropped out of the presidential race in December only to return Jan. 3, two days before the election, and win about seven percent of the vote.

Some have said the new accusations have pacified those who opposed the media shut-down.

According to the Georgia Times, Patarkatsishvili is now wanted on charges of plotting a coup and ”masterminding a terror attack against a high-ranking politician.”