Abkhazia refuses to hand over the killer
By Tea Mariamidze
Thursday, August 4
Georgia is still seeking the punishment of Georgian citizen Giga Otkhozoria’s killer. The issue was voiced at the Gali Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting again.
The IPRM meeting was held in Gali on July 2, attended by Georgian, Russian and Abkhazian representatives as well as those from the UN and EC monitoring missions.
According to Georgia’s State Minister for Reconciliation and Equality, Ketevan Tsikhelashvili, the de facto government of Abkhazia has not taken concrete steps yet, and Otkhozoria’s killer is still under house arrest.
The Minister says Georgia will once again raise the issue at the next round of the Geneva International Talks.
“The Georgian side demands that the killer, who committed premeditated murder, must be punished,” Tsikhelashvili stressed.
Georgia demanded that Abkhazia’s de-facto government bring the killer to Georgian justice. However, the puppet Abkhazian government refused to hand over Rashid Kanji Oghli, the border guard who shot Otkhozoria six times, to Georgia.
On June 23, the military court of Abkhazia denied the prosecution's motion on the detention of the killer.
Border guard Rashid Kanji-Oghli was fired from the so-called state security service. He is charged with premeditated murder.
Giga Otkhozoria was on Georgian-controlled territory when he was gunned down by border guards stationed near the Administrative Boundary Line with Abkhazia in the afternoon on May 19.
Otkhozoria was shot six times, including once in the head. He was rushed to hospital but died soon after. He is survived by his wife and two children.
The video camera fixed the tragic incident.
