Georgian charged with trying to kill Bush appears in court

A man charged with trying to assassinate the presidents of the United States and Georgia appeared in court Tuesday with his mouth sewn shut in what he called a show of solidarity with thousands of inmates conducting a hunger strike in the ex-Soviet republic.

In another reflection of Georgia's troubled justice system, Supreme Court judges who were suspended this week over alleged procedural infractions denounced the punishments as unfounded and politically motivated.

Two of the suspended judges _ and a third who was given a warning _ had accused the court's chief justice and the head of a judicial body last month of pressuring them in court cases. Georgia's opposition cast the suspensions as a move by &to=http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/92/371/16370_Georgia.html' target=_blank>President Mikhail Saakashvili and his allies to stifle judicial independence and pack the courts with loyal supporters.