ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 11, 1997 TAG: 9701130039
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
In a surprise development, a Georgian diplomat held responsible for a fatal car crash was ordered by his government Friday to remain in the United States, where he could face a second-degree murder charge.
Gueorgui Makharadze, the No.2 envoy at the Georgian Embassy, had received instructions Thursday to return home. President Eduard Shevardnadze overruled the order Friday and told U.S. officials he is prepared to waive the envoy's diplomatic immunity.
Georgia had seemed poised to ignore a U.S. request for a waiver, issued 24 hours earlier. Before Shevardnadze intervened, Makharadze was planning to leave the country and reportedly had reservations for a flight today out of New York.
It had appeared to be a classic case of a criminal act going unpunished because of diplomatic immunity; U.S. officials were left surprised and delighted when Shevardnadze interceded.
``This is a courageous step by President Shevardnadze,'' said State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns. He called the move appropriate in light of the passions the case has generated in the United States.
It has been a recurring theme of radio talk shows. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., demanded that up to $30 million in U.S. aid to Georgia be suspended unless Makharadze's immunity protection were waived.
The U.S. attorney's office has said the charges Makharadze could face range from negligent homicide to second-degree murder. Charges are expected to be filed next week.
Makharadze was involved in a five-car crash a week ago that killed Jovianne Waltrick of Kensington, Md. Despite indications that the accident was alcohol-related, he was not given Breathalyzer or blood-alcohol tests because of his diplomatic status.
Skid marks and witness accounts suggested his car had been traveling up to 80 mph before the accident occurred near Washington's Embassy Row, police said.
Shevardnadze said: ``The question of stripping Gueorgui Makharadze of diplomatic immunity in connection with the Jan.4 incident that took a life continues to be discussed.
``Georgian citizen Gueorgui Makharadze must remain in the United States until the investigation is completed and the legal procedures are finished, and until a single decision is reached between the governments of the two countries.''
U.S. diplomats have fond memories of Shevardnadze, who served as Soviet foreign minister from 1985 to 1990, while the Cold War wound down dramatically. In the current case, Shevardnadze may have been influenced by a personal appeal he received Thursday from Secretary of State Warren Christopher.
Elaborating on Shevardnadze's remarks, the Georgian Embassy cited moral and ethical grounds for waiving immunity. It said the embassy has paid for funeral expenses and is weighing other forms of compensation.
Paul Perito and Kirby Behre, lawyers for Makharadze, said the envoy has become ``an unwitting political pawn in an international chess game.''
They said that ``expediency and political hypocrisy have eroded any concerns about the rights of this young diplomat who faces an uncertain future.''
The United States has been a strong defender of diplomatic immunity on grounds that it is the best defense against arbitrary arrest of its diplomats in other countries.
Washington has generally declined to waive diplomatic immunity when U.S. diplomats face legal problems. One exception occurred in 1995 when, American officials said, a U.S. contract employee in Bolivia got caught stealing a truckload of fuel used for a counter-narcotics program.
Officials say the employee, David Duchow, reaped between $30,000 and $100,000 from the theft. His case is still pending in Bolivia. Angered by the waiving of his diplomatic immunity, Duchow has sued the U.S. government. That case is pending, officials said.
The State Department says that of the 18,350 foreigners with diplomatic immunity in the United States in 1995, 17 were involved in serious offenses: nine assaults, four burglaries and four in other categories. There were 28 offenses of drunken or reckless driving.
As a class, diplomats are relatively law-abiding, said State Department spokesman Glyn Davies. ``It is not that they get off the plane and say, `Aha, what kind of mayhem can I cause here?'''
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB