armored vehicles, alongside Georgian Police units, some equipped with armored vehicles, to the base. In a televised address, the President of Georgia said the mutineers had been given a deadline to surrender. Although not specifying when the deadline would expire, he did say that an order "to act appropriately" has been given out to the law enforcement agencies if the negotiations would fail. President Saakashvili also suggested that the mutiny was part of a wider Russian-orchestrated plan to disrupt the upcoming NATO military exercises "Cooperative Longbow - Cooperative Lancer 09" in Georgia, scheduled to start on 6 May and Georgia’s joining with EU's Eastern Partnership. The soldiers at Mukhrovani quickly surrendered after Saakashvili entered the base accompanied by heavily armed bodyguards to negotiate with the mutineers. 21 of the mutiny plotters were put to trial. The trial concluded on 11 January 2010. Colonel Koba Otanadze was given 29 years in prison, while Rangers' Battalion Commander Levan Amiridze was given 28 years, and Tank Battalion Commander Shota Gorgiashvili was given 19 years. All three had been charged with attempting to overthrow the government. National Guard Commander Koba Kobaladze was sentenced to eight months and six days imprisonment for the illegal purchase and possession of weapons. The remaining defendants were tried for various crimes including disobedience and illegal weapons possession, and given sentences ranging from three to fifteen years of imprisonment. Military coup attempt suspicion The Georgian Interior Ministry has expressed concerns about a large scale military mutiny that was to be planned in the Georgian Army by some former military officials, who were in coordination with Russia. Shota Utiashvili, head of the information and analytical department of the Georgian Interior Ministry, said that the mutiny seems to be coordinated with Russia and aimed at minimum thwarting NATO military exercises and maximum organizing full-scale military mutiny in the country. Later, Georgian authorities retracted accusations of Russian support. Aftermath On May 5, 2009, the Interior Ministry of Georgia released video footage, recorded apparently with a body-worn covert camera and showing a man, purportedly the retired major Gia Gvaladze, talking to several persons whose faces were blurred in tape and naming several former senior military and security officials, including David Tevzadze, Jemal Gakhokidze, Koba Kobaladze, and Gia Karkarashvili as supporters of the planned mutiny. Kobaladze, Gvaladze, and the Mukhrovani battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Mamuka Gorgiashvili, as well as dozens of military personnel and civilians