TBILISI: Ex-Soviet Georgia on Wednesday arrested two former ministers from the country's recently ousted government for alleged corruption, the latest in a series of arrests of ex-officials.
Former energy and finance minister Alexandre Khetaguri and former education and justice minister Nika Gvaramia were detained over the alleged "transfer of $1 million for supposed consulting services by energy companies to a fake company", the finance ministry's investigation service said in a statement.
Four other people were also arrested over the alleged crime, which investigators said was committed earlier this year.
Since new Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili came to power in bitterly contested parliamentary polls in October, several officials who formerly served under President Mikheil Saakashvili whose second and last term expires next year have been detained.
A former defence minister, the army's top general and several senior police officials have been held for alleged crimes committed while in office.
But the arrests have caused concerns among Georgia's Western allies, with the United States, the European Union and NATO warning against politically motivated prosecutions.
Ivanishvili however has denied seeking retribution against his opponents, saying that crimes committed under the former government must be prosecuted.
"There is no selective justice in Georgia.
There are no political persecutions," he said on Tuesday, describing the legal moves as the "restoration of justice".
The US State Department has specifically warned Georgia not to "follow the course of Ukraine" a reference to the jailing of former premier Yulia Tymoshenko after President Viktor Yanukovych came to power in 2010.
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