Former PM and secretary general of UNM party, Vano Merabishvili, responded “thoroughly” to investigators’ questions in connection to the case of alleged fake passport, Merabishvili’s lawyer told journalists after about five hours of interrogation on December 7.

Merabishvili himself told journalists after the questioning that the authorities “want the Georgian press to report only about arrests, interrogations and pressure on the members of the United National Movement party and not to allow [UNM], as the opposition, to continue criticizing the authorities.”

“We will continue our daily work,” Merabishvili said. “We will dedicate all of our time… to offering the Georgian society those proposals, which should make life in Georgia much better.”

Merabishvili was first interrogated into this case of alleged fake passport on December 1, but the Interior Ministry said at the time that Merabishvili “actually did not cooperate with the investigation” and gave “contradictory” testimony.

Merabishvili’s lawyer, Mamuka Tchabashvili, told journalists on December 7, the former PM and ex-interior minister was cooperating with the investigation and gave to investigators his “thorough” account of events “as he remembers”. He also said that investigation was still ongoing, but he was not aware whether his client would be again summoned for questioning or not.

In a statement on December 7 Wilfried Martens, President of the European People’s Party (EPP) in which UNM is an observer member, condemned “in the strongest possible terms the ridiculous case” launched against Merabishvili. He said that along with President Saakashvili, who is the chairman of UNM party, he had invited Merabishvili to attend the EPP summit in Brussels next week.