Georgian man sentenced to 9 years in prison for burning flag of Abkhazia
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Wednesday, December 9
Irakli Bebua was illegally sentenced to 9 years in prison in occupied Abkhazia, the Georgian State Security Service said in a statement.
According to The agency, the co-chairs of the Geneva International Discussions were immediately informed about the fact.
"All existing mechanisms have been put in place and we are actively working with international partners.” said the statement.
The issue of Irakli Bebua, as well as the unconditional release of Georgian citizens illegally detained in the occupied territories, will be strongly raised at the next round of international discussions in Geneva scheduled for December 10-11, informed Tea Akhvlediani, State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality.
According to her, the imposition of an illegal sentence on Irakli Bebua is aimed at intimidating the Georgian population living on the ground and aggravating their unbearable conditions.
"This is another illegal action, which is aimed at and unfortunately causes intimidation of the Georgian population living on the ground and further aggravates their already unbearable conditions. It is totally unacceptable and unfortunate that in today’s reality, when we are all fighting the pandemic with the whole world, such destructive steps by the occupation regime continue.” she said.
Irakli Bebua, an ethnic Georgian man living in the Gali district of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region, has been sentenced to nine years in prison for burning the flag of Abkhazia and the possession of firearms.
Bebua was detained at the end of September 2020 after burning the flag of the de facto Abkhazia region. Later, the de facto authorities stated that they had also found a hand grenade in Bebua’s house.
Bebua set an Abkhaz flag on fire while the region was celebrating its ‘Victory Day and the Day of Independence’ on September 30.
He stated in a video released later that he burnt the flag as he wanted Georgians and Abkhaz to live together and be friendly as before.
