A man charged with trying to assassinate the presidents of the United States and Georgia appeared in court Tuesday with his mouth sewn shut in what he called a show of solidarity with thousands of inmates conducting a hunger strike in the ex-Soviet republic.
In another reflection of Georgia's troubled justice system, Supreme Court judges who were suspended this week over alleged procedural infractions denounced the punishments as unfounded and politically motivated.
Two of the suspended judges _ and a third who was given a warning _ had accused the court's chief justice and the head of a judicial body last month of pressuring them in court cases. Georgia's opposition cast the suspensions as a move by &to=http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/92/371/16370_Georgia.html' target=_blank>President Mikhail Saakashvili and his allies to stifle judicial independence and pack the courts with loyal supporters.
Vladimir Arutyunian, who faces life in prison for allegedly trying to assassinate visiting U.S. President &to=http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/92/371/15394_Georgia.html' target=_blank>George W. Bush and Saakashvili at a huge rally in May and for killing a policeman in a shootout before his arrest, appeared with his mouth sewn shut in televised footage from his trial in a Tbilisi court.
Arutyunian, whose trial began earlier this month, has acknowledged that he threw a grenade in the direction of the stage where Bush and Saakashvili were standing behind a bulletproof barrier and said that he would try again to kill Bush if he had the chance. But he has refused to testify before the court, saying the verdict is preordained, and has demanded the presence of human rights monitors.
On Tuesday, he conveyed a written statement to judges saying that his mouth was sewn shut to display support for inmates who are conducting a hunger strike to demand better conditions. The Justice Ministry said Monday that 4,000 of Georgia's 9,000 prison inmates were participating in the protest, which 700 inmates at one prison started Saturday.
The grenade Arutyunian is accused of throwing landed about 100 feet (30 meters) from the stage. It did not explode, and no one was hurt, reports AP.
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