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The News in Brief

Thursday, April 19
Georgian criminal bosses and 34 others detained in France and Greece

Four Georgian criminal bosses and 34 Georgian members of criminal groups were detained in France and Greece on April 16-17, through the cooperation with Georgian law enforcers, the Georgian Interior Ministry reported on Wednesday.

The operation named Caucase Normandie took place simultaneously in French and Greek cities to detain the suspects accused of robberies, keeping and selling of stolen items and money laundering.

The four criminal bosses detained are Lasha Shushanashvili , Aleksandre Kobaladze, Nodar Shukakidze and Merab Asanidze. Shukakidze and Kobaladze were detained in France, while Asanidze and Shukakidze in Greece.

“Georgia, France and Greece have been cooperating for two years to detain the suspects,” the Georgian Interior Ministry stated.

“We cooperated with Europol,” the Ministry added.

The Interior Ministry claimed they would continue active cooperation with foreign states to combat transnational and organized crimes.



Parliamentary Majority Announces Meeting to Settle Inner Disputes

The Georgian Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze has announced that the Georgian Dream ruling party will hold a meeting today to settle controversial issues.

“We will gather at 9pm, in the format of the majority session. As for the agenda, it is planned to discuss current issues, including the ongoing process in the ruling team,” Kobakhidze said.

Some of the majority members opposed to one another in the wake of voting for the opposition candidate in the Georgian Public Broadcaster board.
(By Mariam Chanishvili)