Vladimir Arutyunyan, accused of throwing a grenade at U.S. President George Bush, has described his assassination attempt.
During a conversation with the head of the Georgian police press center, Guram Donadze, who was quoted by Izvestia newspaper, Arutyunyan apparently said: “I will tell you why I did it. Because Bush is a prick!”
Arutyunyan, who is being held in custody before his trial, said he threw the grenade over his head “like a lob in basketball so that pieces would fly over the armored glass.”
The grenade attack took place on May 10 during Bush’s speech in the center of the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. The grenade hit a girl’s head and did not go off. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, who was also on the podium when Bush spoke, raised the prospect that the grenade could have been directed at him.
Georgian police have revealed that the grenade did not explode because it was “wrapped up too tight in a red handkerchief,” not due to a defective fuse as it was reported earlier, the paper quoted the country’s interior minister, Vano Merabishvili, as saying.
Arutyunyan was detained after a shootout with Georgian police. He killed a police colonel and was wounded himself. His arrest came three days after his photograph was published in Georgian media. The photographs were made by a Polish press photographer who had been taking shots of a pretty woman standing next to the suspected bomber.
Soon after his detention, Arutyunyan pleaded guilty and said he was ready to commit another terrorist attack against Bush and Saakashvili.
So far, he is charged with attempted murder, illegal arms storage, armed resistance during detention, and premeditated murder with aggravating circumstances. Arutyunyan may face life imprisonment.
Several Georgian politicians saw the hand of Russia in the attack. Head of the parliamentary defense and security committee Givi Targamadze said Arutyunyan was connected with “Russia’s or some other states’” secret services. However, he did not provide any evidence to back up his theory.