Jaba Ioseliani (Georgian ჯაბა იოსელიანი; 10 July 1926 – 4 March 2003) was a Georgian politician, member of

Parliament of Georgia The Parliament of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პარლამენტი, tr) is the supreme national legislature of Georgia. It is a unicameral parliament, currently consisting of 150 members elected through fully pr ...

, writer, thief-in-law and leader of the paramilitary organisation Mkhedrioni. Born in Khashuri, Georgia, Ioseliani majored in Oriental studies at Leningrad University but did not graduate. He staged a

bank robbery Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank Branch (banking), branch or Bank teller, tel ...

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

in 1948, for which he served 17 years in a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

jail. Released in 1965, he later served another sentence for

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

. He eventually returned to his native Georgia and graduated from the Georgian Institute of Theater Arts, where he became a professor. He wrote a number of popular plays. Ioseliani rose to prominence as the leader of the Mkhedrioni, a heavily armed paramilitary group which he founded in 1989. He attempted to take control of large areas of

Abkhazia Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It cover ...

and

South Ossetia South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partial diplomatic recognition. It has an offici ...

with the goal of defeating regional separatist elements. In February 1991, his organisation was outlawed by President Zviad Gamsakhurdia and he was imprisoned along with other Mkhedrioni members. In response, Ioseliani accused Gamsakhurdia of trying to take control of state media and silence rivals. In December 1991, Ioseliani escaped from prison and joined forces with rebel members of the Georgian National Guard to launch a violent

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

that forced President Zviad Gamsakhurdia out of office in January 1992. He was one of the three leaders of the " Military Council" that ruled Georgia from January–March 1992. He subsequently became a powerful figure in the government of President

Eduard Shevardnadze Eduard Ambrosis dze Shevardnadze ( ka, ედუარდ ამბროსის ძე შევარდნაძე; 25 January 1928 – 7 July 2014) was a Soviet and Georgian politician and diplomat who governed Georgia (country), Georgi ...

, who was forced to rely heavily on Mkhedrioni militiamen because of the weakness of the state security forces. Ioseliani made it clear who he thought was the senior partner: his office in the Georgian Parliament building was located directly above Shevardnadze's and he was constantly surrounded with armed followers wherever he went. His actions earned him many enemies: on 13 June 1992, there was a failed assassination attempt against Ioseliani with a

car bomb A car bomb, bus bomb, van bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roug ...

, resulting in the death of 5 people. Ioseliani played a major role in the War in Abkhazia, which ended in a crushing defeat for government and Mkhedrioni forces in September 1993. Despite this, he was given a formal government position in September 1993 to enforce a national

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

in the Western Georgia amidst the

Georgian Civil War The Georgian Civil War ( ka, საქართველოს სამოქალაქო ომი, ''sakartvelos samokalako omi'') lasted from 1991 to 1993 in the South Caucasian country of Georgia. It began in December 1991 with the c ...

. This gave him almost unlimited powers to detain people. He used these powers enthusiastically, imposing a severely repressive regime that was widely criticised by international human rights organisations. Supporters of the ousted Gamsakhurdia were vigorously targeted, especially in the pro-Gamsakhurdia region of Samegrelo, where the Mkhedrioni were accused of carrying out a number of

extrajudicial killing An extrajudicial killing (also known as an extrajudicial execution or an extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, ...

s. There were also widespread allegations that Ioseliani and his supporters were systematically "taxing" businesses and individuals in areas under their control. On 29 August 1995, Shevardnadze narrowly escaped assassination in a bomb attack. The attack was blamed on a shadowy coalition of "mafia forces" including Ioseliani and others. Ioseliani was detained on 15 November 1995 and held for three years pending trial, then on 10 November 1998 sentenced to 11 years for banditry, terrorism, and conspiring to kill Shevardnadze. He denied the charges and was eventually released in the spring of 2000 in a general amnesty of convicts. He suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on 26 February 2003 and died in a

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

hospital a week later. He is buried in the Pantheon of Didube, Tbilisi.

References

External links

*Александр КРЫЛОВ (Aleksandr Krylov
Забытые уроки Джабы Иоселиани
(Forgetting lesson of Dzhaba Ioselani) НОВАЯ ПОЛИТИКА (Novaya Politika - New Policy) 6 March 2006. (access on 21 August. 2008) (In Russian)
Jaba Ioseliani
Biographical Dictionary,

National Parliamentary Library of Georgia LEPL Ilia Chavchavadze National Library of Georgia ( ka, სსიპ ილია ჭავჭავაძის სახელობის საქართველოს ეროვნული ბიბლიოთეკა, ''sakartvelos ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ioseliani, Jaba 1926 births 2003 deaths Burials at Didube Pantheon People from Shida Kartli Svan people Politicians from Georgia (country) Military personnel from Georgia (country) Rebels from Georgia (country) People from Georgia (country) convicted of manslaughter Prisoners and detainees of the Soviet Union Prisoners and detainees from Georgia (country) Thieves in law Georgian bank robbers Gangsters from Georgia (country) Leaders who took power by coup Warlords