Georgia, 1999 — dissident coup conspiracy
Event Summary
This entry is coded 22 May 1999, during a period of continued political instability under President Eduard Shevardnadze of Georgia, marked by pro-Gamsakhurdia Zviadist insurgency, the fallout of a 1998 armed forces mutiny, and lingering paramilitary threats. Shevardnadze, the former Soviet foreign minister brought in to lead Georgia after the 1991-1992 overthrow of Zviad Gamsakhurdia, had survived assassination attempts in 1995 and February 1998 and had outlawed the Mkhedrioni paramilitary, imprisoning its leader Jaba Ioseliani. In October 1998 Colonel Akaki Eliava, a Zviadist officer who had been amnestied and rejoined the army, led a short-lived mutiny in western Georgia, marching some 200 soldiers toward Kutaisi before being intercepted by government forces; Eliava escaped and remained at large in the woods of western Georgia through 1999, keeping alive the threat of renewed revolt.
The 22 May 1999 coding sits in this climate of anti-Shevardnadze conspiracy and Zviadist unrest in western Georgia.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
37205221999
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Shevardnadze contained the Zviadist unrest and remained in power until the 2003 Rose Revolution.
Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
CSP
BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union - Political
National Post
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →