GEORGIAN PARAMILITARY GROUP MEMBERS SENTENCED.

The Supreme Court yesterday sentenced Davit Otiashvili to death and 17 members of his group to prison terms ranging from 8 to 15 years for banditry and other crimes. The defendants belonged to a unit of the paramilitary organization Mhedrioni [Knights], which played a major role in Georgia’s recent period of turmoil. President Eduard Shevardnadze managed in 1995 to ban the Mhedrioni, whose once highly influential leader, Jaba Ioseliani, is now due to go on trial. (Interfax, November 26)

Russia to Send Military Advisors to Tajikistan.