Georgia ex-leader Shevardnadze to be buried in grounds of family estate

Late Georgian former President Eduard Shevardnadze will be buried on Sunday in the grounds of his family estate in the capital, Tbilisi, next to the remains of his wife Nanuli Tsagareishvili as he asked in his will, the former president’s press secretary said on Tuesday, according to ITAR-TASS. 

Shevardnadze, second president of Georgia and foreign minister of the Soviet Union between 1985 and 1990, passed away around noon on Monday in Tbilisi, aged 86.

“Eduard Shevardnadze will be laid to rest with all due honours appropriate for the former president,” press secretary Marina Davitashvili told an ITAR-TASS correspondent.

Davitashvili said the body of the late president would be carried on Friday to Tbilisi's Holy Trinity Cathedral, commonly known as Sameba, where people wishing to pay last respects could do so, as also on Saturday.

On Sunday at 3pm local time (11am GMT) his body will be taken from the Sameba to his family estate, where he will be laid to rest.