Protest against Abkhaz detentions on the Enguri Bridge. April, 2017 (Newposts)
A father and son were sentenced to 2, and 2 and a half years in jail on 2 August by an Abkhazian court for ‘illegally crossing the border’.
Archil Rogava, 59, and Paata Rogava, 25, were arrested on 6 April by authorities in Abkhazia.
A spokesperson for Georgia’s State Security Service confirmed the sentences to OC Media saying that they ‘will take all measures to get these people released using all mechanisms of negotiations’. The court’s decision was ‘clearly illegal’ she added.
Rogava’s family insist on the pair’s innocence, and claim that they were searching for a missing horse when they were stopped and forced to cross the border at gunpoint.
A number of their relatives have held demonstrations since their detention, demanding that the Georgian government make more effort to free them.
On 26 April, members of the family blocked the Enguri (Ingur) Bridge, which leads to the Abkhazian border crossing.
When police ordered them to open the road, Darejan Rogava refused to obey and was arrested, leading to a physical confrontation between police and protesters.
The issue of the pair’s release was raised by the Georgian side several times during the regular Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism meetings, but the result was not followed.
One such meeting was held in Abkhazia in Gali (Gal) on 25 April.
Kakhaber Kemoklidze, Deputy Head of the Georgian Security Service’s analytical department said after the meeting that Georgia had raised the issue of the Rogavas.
‘The Security Service does its best to help set these people free’, he said.
According to the State Security Service’s 2016 annual report, arrests of people at the Abkhazian border is a major challenge for the service. According to the report, 193 people were arrested in 2016.
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
A father and son were sentenced to 2, and 2 and a half years in jail on 2 August by an Abkhazian court for ‘illegally crossing the border’.
