TBILISI, November 26 (RIA Novosti) - The...

"My stake in Rustavi-2 was seized upon instructions from Georgian President Saakashvili in 2004. I am going to file a suit demanding the return of my stake in the TV company," Erosi Kitsmarishvili said.

He also pledged to do everything possible to make the Georgian media "free and independent" again.

Kitsmarishvili, 44, was the owner and director of Rustavi-2, a channel that analysts say did much to shape the political climate in the run-up to the 2003 Rose Revolution which brought Saakashvili to power.

Rustavi-2 went bankrupt in 2004 and a government official replaced Kitsmarishvili. The former ambassador said earlier that the television company was controlled by the Geomedia Group, registered in an offshore zone in the Marshall Islands and owned by Saakashvili. This has not been verified by independent sources, however.

Kitsmarishvili accused Tbilisi on Tuesday of failing to use all the opportunities available to it to prevent August's military conflict

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