2009 Georgian mutiny

2009 Georgian Mutiny
Date 5 May 2009 Location Georgia Status Coup attempt fails, mutineers surrender
Belligerents
Georgian Defence Ministry Georgian Police	Georgian Army: Mukhrovani Tank Battalion
Commanders and leaders
Mikheil Saakashvili Ivane Merabishvili Vasil Sikharulidze	Lt. Colonel Mamuka Gorgiashvili
Strength
(?)	~500(?)

The 2009 Georgian mutiny was a mutiny by a Georgian Army tank battalion based in Mukhrovani, Georgia, 30 kilometres (19 mi) east of the capital Tbilisi on 5 May, 2009. It is not yet known how many soldiers took part. Later that day, the Georgian Ministry of Interior announced that the mutineers had surrendered. Some of its leaders, including the battalion's commander, were arrested; others managed to escape. The mutiny broke out after the government announced it had uncovered a Russian-backed coup plot to destabilize Georgia and assassinate President Mikheil Saakashvili.

Background

Georgia has been affected by unrest since its war with Russia in August 2008. Since April 2009, protests have called for the resignation of the Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili. In March, nine members of the political party Democratic Movement – United Georgia were arrested after allegedly purchasing automatic weapons ahead of more anti-government demonstrations, a claim described by its leader as "absurd". Several senior government figures recently defected to the opposition, claiming Saakashvili started an unwinnable war that left the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia further in Russian control. In May 2009, Russia decided to take control of South Ossetia's border with Georgia proper.

The mutiny took place a day before the planned NATO exercises in Georgia, which had angered Moscow.

The mutiny

The mutiny erupted on the morning of 5 May, after a Georgian Army tank battalion stationed in Mukhrovani, 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, began to disobey orders. According to the Minister of Defense, Vasil Sikharulidze, the plotters' minimum goal was to undermine the NATO military exercises beginning this week in Georgia. Sikharulidze also mentioned to the Rustavi 2 television that the rebellion was also "an attempt of a military coup." In a televised address, the President of Georgia said the mutineers had been given a deadline to surrender. Although not specifying when the deadline would expire, he did say that an order "to act appropriately" has been given out to the law enforcement agencies if the negotiations would fail. President Saakashvili also suggested that the mutiny was part of a wider Russian-orchestrated plan to disrupt the upcoming NATO military exercises "Cooperative Longbow - Cooperative Lancer 09" in Georgia, scheduled to start on 6 May and Georgia’s joining with EU's Eastern Partnership. The soldiers at Mukhrovani quickly surrendered after Saakashvili went to the base to negotiate with the mutineers.

Military coup attempt suspicion

The Georgian Interior Ministry has expressed concerns about a large scale military mutiny that was to be planned in the Georgian Army by some former military officials, who were in coordination with Russia. Shota Utiashvili, head of the information and analytical department of the Georgian Interior Ministry, said that the mutiny seems to be coordinated with Russia and aimed at minimum thwarting NATO military exercises and maximum organizing full-scale military mutiny in the country.

Aftermath

On May 5, 2009, the Interior Ministry of Georgia released a video footage, recorded apparently with a body-worn covert camera and showing a man, purportedly the retired major Gia Gvaladze, talking to several persons whose faces were blurred in tape and naming several former senior military and security officials, including David Tevzadze, Jemal Gakhokidze, Koba Kobaladze, and Gia Karkarashvili as supporters of the planned mutiny. Kobaladze, Gvaladze, and the Mukhrovani battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Mamuka Gorgiashvili, as well as dozens of military personnel and civilians were arrested by the police "in connection with the Mukhrovani incident". Kharkharashvili and Tevzadze have rejected any links with the plot. Two other former army officers, Koba Otanadze and Zaza Mushkudiani, are wanted.

Later that day Gia Karkarashvili released video footage showing him talking with Koba Melikidze who allegedly was trying to persuade him to take part in mutiny. The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs expressed its gratitude to Karkarashvili for information provided by him as it helped to arrest Melikidze and prevent an assassination attempt on Vano Merabishvili.

Domestic reactions

• Georgian opposition - has expressed its doubts on the mutiny backgrounds and actual happening. One of the opposition leaders, David Gamkrelidze claimed that the event could be an inside job of the Georgian authorities to draw the attention away from the anti-government protests in Georgia. Irakli Alasania, leader of the opposition Alliance for Georgia, said he would not make any political assessment, because of lack of information.

Foreign reactions

• Russia - The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied any Russian involvement after the Georgian accusations of interfering in Georgian domestic affairs. The Russian Federation's envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, said that Moscow had been accustomed to ridiculous accusations from Georgia.
• United States - The United States Department of Defense has announced that the situation in Georgia which took place earlier on May 5 is probably an isolated incident. The press secretary of the Pentagon Bryan Whitman added that the United States is still analyzing the situation.