TBILISI, October 9 (RIA Novosti) - Former Georgian defense minister Irakly Okruashvili left the country immediately after his release having posted bail of $6 million, Georgia's Pirveli news agency quoted his bodyguards as saying.
Okruashvili, an outspoken critic of President Mikheil Saakashvili, earlier pleaded guilty to professional negligence and partially guilty to charges of extortion. The former minister has also been charged with blackmail, money laundering, and abuse of office.
Georgia's border police did not confirm Okruashvili's departure. "Law prohibits the release of such information. We can provide data on who has left Georgian territory only to investigative bodies - the Interior Ministry and the Prosecutor General's office," border police spokeswoman Lela Mchedlidze said.
Georgia's top prosecutors said they were checking reports on Okruashvili's departure. Prosecutors said the lawfulness of such an action depends on the specific agreement concluded between the judge and the defendant.
Yekaterina Beseliya, a lawyer for Okruashvili, denied media reports that Irakly Okruashvili had left the country. "He is here," she said.
A deputy Georgian prosecutor general said earlier in the day that the criminal case against Okruashvili was not closed.
According to Givi Papuashvili, the ex-minister's lawyer, Okruashvili paid the $6 mln with a mixture of cash and real estate. The lawyer said his client would stay at his own apartment as he awaited trial.
The former minister was detained in late September, days after announcing the creation of an opposition movement, For United Georgia.
His supporters called the arrest political, and linked it to Okruashvili's comments made in an Imedi TV interview on September 25, in which he accused President Saakashvili of corruption and an attempt to kill businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili. Okruashvili also alleged that Georgian authorities had covertly planned to seize control of the breakaway republic of South Ossetia in 2006.
On Sunday, Okruashvili unexpectedly withdrew his accusations of corruption against the president. However, one of his lawyers said that her client had testified under duress, and in the absence of his legal counsel.
Patarkatsishvili said on Tuesday he was glad Okruashvili had been released, but that he could not speculate on the situation as "the behavior and psychological condition of Okruashvili are unclear even for the ex-defense minister's mother."
He also denied any consultations between him and Okruashvili before the ex-minister made a statement on Georgian authorities' plans to kill the businessman.
