Sawt Falasteen - Sign of internal shakeup as Georgia raids home of ex-PM, others

The searches targeted figures long associated with the governing Georgian Dream party and the country's security establishment.

It was not immediately clear why prosecutors conducted the raids and the ruling party did not immediately comment.

Authorities in the Black Sea nation have for months waged a crackdown on the opposition, jailing prominent pro-EU figures, but had until now not targeted people close to the ruling party.

The ex-Soviet republic bordering Russia has been mired in political crisis since last October, when Georgian Dream claimed victory in parliamentary elections that the opposition decried as stolen.

Anti-corruption prosecutors and security agents carried out the raids simultaneously at 22 locations, Chief Prosecutor Giorgi Gvarakidze told reporters at a briefing in Tbilisi.

Homes and offices linked to Garibashvili, former spy chief Grigol Liluashvili, ex–prosecutor general and Russia-linked businessman Otar Partskhaladze, and eight other individuals were searched, Gvarakidze said.

"A large amount of cash, documents, and various electronic devices had been seized," he added.

He said the move was part of several ongoing criminal investigations but did not disclose the nature of the alleged offences or whether any arrests had been made.

Garibashvili, 43, served two stints as Georgia's prime minister and was widely seen as the closest lieutenant of powerful oligarch and ruling Georgian Dream party chief Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Georgian Dream has faced accusations of democratic backsliding, drifting towards Russia and derailing Georgia's EU-membership bid enshrined in the country's constitution -- allegations the party rejects.

Y.AlMasri--SF-PST