LONDON, England (CNN) -- Former Georgian opposition leader and billionaire businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili died of natural causes, British police said Thursday.

Badri Patarkatsishvili died of natural causes, police say.
Police in Surrey, south of London, found Patarkatsishvili dead at his home Tuesday night. He was believed to be 52, police said.
His sudden death and a police statement that the case was "suspicious" led to speculation that Patarkatsishvili was murdered, even though his spokesman said the cause of death was heart failure.
Patarkatsishvili was accused of plotting a coup last year against Georgia's pro-Western President Mikheil Saakashvili and organizing widespread anti-government demonstrations which led the president to call early elections.
The voting took place last month, and Saakashvili was re-elected.
"Following initial inquiries and the post mortem carried out last night, Surrey Police can confirm that at this stage there is no indication that the sudden death of Badri Patarkatsishvili was from anything other than natural causes," a police statement said.
Police said investigators would still carry out toxicology tests and that the Surrey coroner would begin an inquest. Inquests are standard in Britain whenever a person dies suddenly. E-mail to a friend ![]()
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