18 Facts About Vladimir Arutyunian

Vladimir Arutyunian is a Georgian national who, on 10 May 2005, attempted to assassinate United States President George W Bush and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili by throwing a hand grenade at both of them.

Vladimir Arutyunian was later arrested and sentenced to life in prison.

Vladimir Arutyunian, a Georgian citizen and ethnic Armenian, was born on 12 March 1978 in Tbilisi, Soviet Georgia.

Vladimir Arutyunian joined the Democratic Union for Revival party led by Aslan Abashidze in January 2004, in the same month that Mikheil Saakashvili became president of Georgia and led the country through the 2004 Adjara crisis, in which Abashidze refused to obey the central government authorities.

The crisis ended in 2004 without bloodshed, and Vladimir Arutyunian soon left the Revival party.

On 10 May 2005, Arutyunian waited for the United States President George W Bush and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to speak in Tbilisi's central Liberty Square.

When Bush began speaking, Vladimir Arutyunian pulled the pin on a Soviet-made RGD-5 hand grenade, wrapped in a red tartan handkerchief, and threw it toward the podium where Bush stood speaking.

Vladimir Arutyunian later said that he threw the grenade "towards the heads" so that "the shrapnel would fly behind the bulletproof glass".

Vladimir Arutyunian was a visiting professor from Boise, Idaho, US.

Vladimir Arutyunian then fled into the woods in the village of Vashlijvari on the outskirts of Tbilisi.

DNA samples from Vladimir Arutyunian matched the DNA samples from the handkerchief.

Georgian police later found a chemical lab and a stockpile of explosives, chemicals and other material Vladimir Arutyunian had built up in his apartment.

Vladimir Arutyunian said that he had attempted to assassinate both presidents because he hated Georgia's new government for being a "puppet" of the United States.

Vladimir Arutyunian further stated that he did not regret what he did and would do it again if he had the chance.

Vladimir Arutyunian initially admitted his guilt when arrested but refused to cooperate during the trial.

Vladimir Arutyunian pleaded not guilty, then refused to answer questions in court.

Vladimir Arutyunian's lawyer Elisabed Japaridze said after the conviction and sentencing that she would appeal.

Vladimir Arutyunian is not eligible for parole, and could only be released under a presidential pardon, but such pardons are almost never granted in Georgia.