Giorgi "Gia" Shervashidze ( ka, გიორგი ��იაშერვაშიძე, born 10 February 1955) is a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

politician and retired Lieutenant-General of Police. He commanded the

Internal Troops of Georgia The Internal Troops of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს შინაგანი ჯარები, ''sak'art'velos shinagani jarebi'') was the militarized gendarmerie-like force in Georgia from 1991 to 2004. It was subordinated t ...

from 1996 to 2003.

Police and military career

Born in

Zugdidi Zugdidi ( ka, ზუგდიდი; xmf, ზუგდიდი or ზუგიდი) is a city in the western Georgian historical province of Samegrelo (Mingrelia). It is situated in the north-west of that province. The city is located 318 kil ...

and descended from a noble Georgian-Abkhaz family, Shervashidze graduated from the Tbilisi High Military School in 1974 and Moscow

Frunze Military Academy The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (russian: Военная академия имени М. В. Фрунзе), or in full the Military Order of Lenin and the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Academy in the name of M. V. Frunze (rus ...

in 1993. He joined the ranks of the Soviet-era police, militsiya, in 1978 and continued his service in police of independent Georgia in 1991. Having served as Vice-Rector of

Police Academy A police academy, also known as a law enforcement training center, police college, or police university, is a training school for police cadets, designed to prepare them for the law enforcement agency they will be joining upon graduation, or othe ...

from 1992 to 1994, he then held commanding positions in the Internal Troops and became promoted to major-general in 1996. That year, he was appointed as commander of the Internal Troops of Georgia and in 2002 oversaw a special police operation to clear Georgia's

Pankisi Gorge Pankisi ( ka, პანკისი) or the Pankisi Gorge (, ''Pankisis Kheoba'') is a valley region in Georgia, in the upper reaches of River Alazani just south of Georgia’s historic region of Tusheti between Mt Borbalo and the ruined 17th ...

of infiltrating Islamist elements fighting against Russia in neighboring Chechnya. He was decorated with the

Order of Vakhtang Gorgasali Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

, 3rd Class.

Political career

After the change of power in Georgia as a result of the November 2003

Rose Revolution The Rose Revolution or Revolution of Roses ( ka, ვარდების რევოლუცია, tr) was a nonviolent change of power that occurred in Georgia in November 2003. The event was brought about by widespread protests over the ...

, Shervashidze was dismissed from service. He became involved in politics in 2007 and made an unsuccessful bid to run for presidency in the 2008 election, but the Georgian election authorities refused to register his candidacy on account of his lack of required number of supporters. He later emerged as one of the leaders of the opposition Christian-Democratic Alliance, which ran, unsuccessfully, in the May 2008 parliamentary election. In June 2008, he was attacked and beaten by four masked men. Shervashidze blamed the government for the attack and cited his independent " public diplomacy" with the Abkhaz side as a reason.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shervashidze, Giorgi 1955 births Generals from Georgia (country) Living people People from Zugdidi Giorgi