Mikheil Saakashvili acknowledged that the public reaction to the high-profile murder of Sandro Girgvliani was “justified” but he criticised his opponents for, as he put it, “exploiting this tragedy” for “their dirty purposes.”

Speaking in an interview with a journalist, Inga Grigolia, Saakashvili highlighted the role played by business tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili in raising the case publicly. Patarkatsishvili, Saakashvili said, had no right to even speak about the Girgvliani case, given his alleged links to people implicated in murders.

“The public reaction to the Girgvliani case was justified. Now, four high ranking police officers... have been jailed,” he said.  “It was a great tragedy first of all for me when this case was used for dirty purposes. And when Patarkatsishvili speaks of Sandro Girgvliani – this is not a person who can speak about murders – Andrei Lugovoy, who is wanted by the entire world, was chief of his [referring to Patarkatsishvili] security.”

Andrei Lugovoy, a former KGB officer, has been identified by Scotland Yard as the chief suspect in the murder of former KGB operative Alexander Litvinenko in London.

Imedi TV, co-owned by Patarkatsishvili, was the first to break the news of Sandro Girgvliani's murder. The station, as well as the Girgvliani family, some human right groups and opposition politicians, had claimed that several former high-level Interior Ministry officials, as well as Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili’s wife, were implicated in the murder. The official investigation, however, they claim, covered up crucial evidence that would have proven their allegations.

Gia Alania and three other former Interior Ministry officers were subsequently sentenced to eight and seven-year prison terms, respectively, for inflicting injuries that resulted in 28-year-old Sandro Girgvliani’s death in February 2006. The Supreme Court, however, later reduced the prison terms by six months.

Despite the Girgvliani murder case, Saakashvili maintained that the police enjoyed high public confidence. He said that following police reform, new cadres had been brought into the Interior Ministry.  “99% of them are very good,” he said. “But several young men were spoiled by too much praise. And so this tragedy happened.”