Ruslan Gvashev, a 67-year-old Circassian activist who was fined for performing a traditional Circassian prayer in public, has ended his hunger strike after 25 days. The appeal against his fine has been postponed.
Krasnodar’s regional appellate court was due to make a final decision on whether to overturn the fine against him on 5 October, but the hearing was postponed until 14 October. After dozens of supporters gathered at the court and urged him to stop, he announced he would abandon his strike.
More than 200 supporters of Gvashev, including both Abkhazians and Circassians, gathered near the regional courthouse in Krasnodar. Abkhaz and Circassians share historic, cultural, and linguistic links.
‘The hunger strikes is over, but the fight has not stopped’, Caucasian Knot quoted one of the participants as saying.
Gvashev, who recently suffered a stroke, was stopped twice while travelling from Sochi to Krasnodar’s district court in an ambulance sent by Abkhazian authorities.
The vehicle was first stopped by approximately 30 people, including members of the patrol police, Caucasian Knotreported. They let the ambulance continue after three hours of delay, but the vehicle was stopped again in Tuapse, near Sochi. According toEkho Kavkaza, Gvashev changed vehicles three times in order to reach the court.
The delays meant that Gvashev was only able to arrive after the rally had concluded, according toCaucasian Knot.
Gvashev began his hunger strike more than three weeks ago after being fined for performing a public prayer at a sacred tulip tree in the village of Golovinka, near Sochi.
Gvashev performed the prayer on 21 May, which marks the Day of Remembrance of the Circassian Victims of the Caucasian War (Circassian Day of Mourning) 1817–1864. Gvashev is a former head of the Circassian Shapsug Council of Elders; Shapsugs are a Circassian subgroup from Krasnodar Krai.
For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.
Georgian Dream has firmly denied claims they are considering forming a confederate state with Abkhazia and South Ossetia — after 50 days of avoiding the clarification.
On Sunday, Georgian Dream’s parliamentary leader, Mamuka Mdinaradze, voiced frustration at what he called ‘anti-national rumours’ about the alleged plan.
Taking his frustration to Facebook, Mdinaradze declared that ‘Georgia will never question its territorial integrity!’
‘No recognition or other anti-national issues are unde
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Russia is ready to help Georgia ‘normalise relations’ with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, a statement that was met with positivity by the ruling Georgian Dream party.
In response to a reporter’s question about Georgian relations with Abkhazia and South Ossetia during a press conference at the UN General Assembly on Saturday, Lavrov said that ‘if there is an interest in the normalisation of these relations, in order to ensure non-aggression a
The Abkhazian Parliament has ratified an agreement with Russia on recognising and enforcing court rulings in economic cases.
The draft law ‘on the Ratification of the Agreement between the Republic of Abkhazia and the Russian Federation on the Recognition and Enforcement of Judicial and Arbitration Decisions in Economic Cases’ was introduced to the parliament by Batal Ayba, the parliamentary secretary of Abkhazian President Aslan Bzhaniya.
‘Ratification will contribute to the development of
Abkhazia’s State Museum has closed its modern history wing after the Russian Embassy reportedly demanded the removal of a photo of Chechen rebel commander Shamil Basayev.
On Tuesday, the Russian Embassy in Abkhazia told RBK that they had submitted a complaint to Abkhazia about the photo, and that the museum intended to ‘rectify the current situation as soon as possible’.
The complaint comes at a low point of relations between Abkhazia and Russia, and follows Russia’s decision to cut fundi
Ruslan Gvashev, a 67-year-old Circassian activist who was fined for performing a traditional Circassian prayer in public, has ended his hunger strike after 25 days. The appeal against his fine has been postponed.
