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Official: U.S is not seeking extradition of man who admitted throwing
grenade toward Bush
.c The Associated Press
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) - Georgia's interior minister said Thursday that
a man who admitted throwing a live grenade toward U.S. President
George W. Bush during a rally in the ex-Soviet nation will face
justice at home.
Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili said that the United States had
not asked for the extradition of Vladimir Arutyunian, who was indicted
Wednesday by a U.S. grand jury on charges of trying to assassinate the
president.
``The United States trusts the Georgian justice and law enforcement
agencies, and it hasn't made an extradition request,'' Merabishvili
said at a news conference.
Arutyunian already faces terrorism and murder charges in Georgia
stemming from the May 10 incident in Tbilisi and the killing of a
policeman in a shootout before his arrest in July. Merabishvili says
that the charges carry a punishment of life imprisonment - the same
punishment that he would face in the United States.
Bush and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili were behind a
bulletproof barrier addressing a rally of thousands in Tbilisi in May
when the grenade, wrapped in a plaid cloth, landed about 100 feet
away. It did not explode; investigators said it apparently
malfunctioned. No one was harmed.
In a video broadcast on Georgian television, Arutyunian said he
intended to spray shrapnel over the bulletproof glass.
Autyunian got a new private lawyer Thursday to replace a lawyer
provided by the state.
09/08/05 13:53 EDT
grenade toward Bush
.c The Associated Press
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) - Georgia's interior minister said Thursday that
a man who admitted throwing a live grenade toward U.S. President
George W. Bush during a rally in the ex-Soviet nation will face
justice at home.
Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili said that the United States had
not asked for the extradition of Vladimir Arutyunian, who was indicted
Wednesday by a U.S. grand jury on charges of trying to assassinate the
president.
``The United States trusts the Georgian justice and law enforcement
agencies, and it hasn't made an extradition request,'' Merabishvili
said at a news conference.
Arutyunian already faces terrorism and murder charges in Georgia
stemming from the May 10 incident in Tbilisi and the killing of a
policeman in a shootout before his arrest in July. Merabishvili says
that the charges carry a punishment of life imprisonment - the same
punishment that he would face in the United States.
Bush and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili were behind a
bulletproof barrier addressing a rally of thousands in Tbilisi in May
when the grenade, wrapped in a plaid cloth, landed about 100 feet
away. It did not explode; investigators said it apparently
malfunctioned. No one was harmed.
In a video broadcast on Georgian television, Arutyunian said he
intended to spray shrapnel over the bulletproof glass.
Autyunian got a new private lawyer Thursday to replace a lawyer
provided by the state.
09/08/05 13:53 EDT