TBILISI: Georgia has arrested a former defence minister and the country's top general amid a probe into abuses of power under President Mikheil Saakashvili's recently ousted government, officials said Wednesday.
Former defence minister Bacho Akhalaia and current army chief of staff Giorgi Kalandadze were arrested amid an investigation into the physical and verbal abuse of servicemen by defence ministry officials, the prosecutor said.
"An investigation is under way by the office of the chief prosecutor of Georgia into a criminal case over the misuse of office by defence ministry officials," prosecutor Archil Kbilashvili said in televised comments.
No formal charges have yet been filed, he said.
The arrests come after billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili's new government came to power following its defeat of Saakashvili's party at parliamentary polls last month. It has promised to tackle wrongdoings under the previous administration, which dominated the ex-Soviet state for nine years.
Akhalaia's lawyer rejected the allegations.
"The reason for launching the investigation is obviously absurd," his lawyer David Kereselidze told Georgian media.
Akhalaia held a series of top positions in Saakashvili's government, serving as defence minister from 2008 to 2012 before briefly working as interior minister from July to September 2012.
He resigned in September as a scandal raged over the torture of inmates in Georgia's jails; he had also served as the head of the prisons system from 2005 to 2008. But he has denied allegations of violating human rights during his term in office.
Akhalaia left the country after the October 1 elections but returned on November 5, saying he was ready to answer any "idiotic" allegations against him.
He was called for questioning the following day and then arrested. (AFP)
