A car belonging to Givi Targamadze, a member of the Georgian parliament from the former opposition party United National Movement, was blown up in the center of Tbilisi on Tuesday evening.
Targamadze, who was in the car at the moment, was not harmed. At the same time, the blast seriously injured the driver of a van passing by, and three other people sustained minor injuries.
Targamadze said on the Rustavi-2 television channel that the explosive device had been set off using a remote control. He said he expected the Interior Ministry to property investigate the incident.
The authorities opened a criminal case on a murder attempt charge, the Georgian Interior Ministry said.
Meanwhile, former Georgian President and currently Odesa region Governor Mikheil Saakashvili commented on the incident on Facebook. Georgian media reported that Saakashvili had congratulated his friend and “a great patriot” on avoiding injuries and wished the victims to recover soon.
Saakashvili suggested that the attack on Targamadze could have been plotted by former Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili. “Losing power for Ivanishvili means losing everything, and he will fight till the end,” Saakashvili said.
Targamadze, a Georgian parliamentarian and a leader of the opposition party United National Movement, is wanted by Russian law enforcement agencies in the case dealing with the unrest on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow in 2012. The Russian investigative authorities believe Targamadze was involved in organizing the May 6, 2012 disturbances on Bolotnaya Square together with Russian citizens Leonid Razvozzhayev, Sergei Udaltov and Konstantin Lebedev. A Russian court earlier found Udaltsov and Razvozzhayev guilty and sentenced them to 4.5 years in prison each.
