Growing tensions erupted into violence last fall when thousands of anti-Saakashvili demonstrators filled the streets of downtown Tbilisi. The government cracked down hard on the protesters, clearing them out with truncheons and tear gas.
At the same time, agents stormed Patarkatsishvili's popular and outspoken television station, Imedi. The government shut down the station, accusing it of inciting the protests.
The plot thickened in December, when the government released audiotapes and videotapes of secret meetings between the tycoon and a high-ranking Interior Ministry official. In the tapes, a voice believed to be that of Patarkatsishvili is heard offering the official millions of dollars to help him organize massive street demonstrations.
Based on those transcripts, the government accused him of trying to organize a coup.
Patarkatsishvili and his wife took up residence in their house near London in November. He continued to work with the Georgian opposition from afar, complaining all the while that his life was in danger. He gained 7% of the vote in January's presidential election, which reinstalled Saakashvili over the protests of the opposition.
"He was continuing his political activities. From the government side there were many attacks on him, from law enforcement as well as politicians," said opposition leader David Usupashvili. "Unfortunately, the issue of his possible liquidation was mentioned several times during the past months."
In December, Patarkatsishvili told Britain's Daily Telegraph that he had moved to London because of "black PR" and alleged Georgian government plans to "get rid of me." He also released to reporters a tape recording that he said included a Georgian official asking a Chechen warlord to kill the tycoon in London, a claim that could not be confirmed.
"I intend to stay in London. I haven't decided to die yet, so I'm not going to go to Georgia for the moment," he told the Daily Telegraph.
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megan.stack@latimes.com
Stobart reported from London and Stack from Moscow. Times staff writer Sergei L. Loiko in Moscow contributed to this report.
