Tengiz Kitovani, controversial politician of 90s, dies aged 85

Tengiz Kitovani, a controversial figure in Georgian politics in the 1990s who returned to Georgia in 2012, died on Monday, aged 85, his family confirmed. 

Kitovani served as a  member of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia in 1990-1991, and signed the Act on the Restoration of State Independence of Georgia on April 9, 1991. 

On August 2, 1991, by the resolution of the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia, the mandate of the deputy was terminated before the deadline. 

He was the commander of the Georgian National Guard. He did not obey the decision made by then President Zviad Gamsakhurdia on the reorganization of the Guard and announced his disobedience. On August 24, together with a 15,000 unit of the Guard, he camped in the Rkoni valley.

Kitovani  participated in the civil war that started in the country and the overthrow of Gamsakhurdia’s Government. After the military coup, he was a member of the Military Council of the Republic of Georgia.

In 1992-1993, he participated in the war in  the currently Russian-controlled Abkhazia region. Kitovani entered Abkhazia with the Georgian army in August 1992. There are conflicting reports about whether he had received an order to enter Sukhumi,the main city of the region, or whether he acted independently, without agreement with Tbilisi. In 1992-1995, he was a member of the Parliament of the third Convocation of Georgia. 

In October 1996, Kitovani was arrested on charges of organizing an illegal armed group and sentenced to eight years in prison. On May 22, 1999, the then  President of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze, pardoned Kitovani due to his “deteriorating health”.  

Kitovani lived in Moscow in the 2000s. He returned to Georgia in 2012, after the change of the United National Movement Government.