5 years since tragic murder of Giga Otkhozoria by Russian occupation forces
By Khatia Bzhalava
Thursday, May 20
It has been 5 years since Georgian citizen Giga Otkhozoia was killed by occupying forces in the village of Khurcha, near Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region. Otkhozoria, 31, an IDP from Abkhazia, lived with his family in the town of Zugdidi. Reportedly, Othozoria was transporting food for his relative’s funeral ceremony in occupied Gali, on May 19, 2016, when the so-called border guards demanded money from him in exchange for transporting goods, which resulted in a dispute. He was on Georgian-controlled territory when he got shot six times by the so-called border guard, Rashid Kanjiogli. Zugdidi City Court sentenced Kanjiogli to 14 years of imprisonment in absentia, however, Kanjiogli has not been punished in the de facto Abkhazia. In 2017, the de facto prosecutor’s office terminated the investigation due to a lack of evidence. Georgian authorities have placed the entire responsibility for the incident on the Russian Federation, as it is the force that maintains control over the area.
Yesterday, State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality Tea Akhvlediani arrived at the cemetery of Giga Otkhozoria. The Minister expressed her condolences to family members of Otkhozoria and promised full support on behalf of the government.
“Giga Otkhozoia is a victim of the cruelty and injustice of the occupation which cost the lives of many of our other heroes… The Georgian government uses all mechanisms at its disposal to bring to justice those responsible for the loss of our citizens' lives,” said Akhvlediani.
According to the State Security Service of Georgia (SSG), the brutal murder of Otkhozoria represented the inhumane and criminal face of the occupation regime. “This has severely damaged the security environment along the occupation line as well as in the occupied territories and has once again shown the dire consequences of the occupation,” reads the SSG’s statement
The Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili declared earlier on Wednesday that “the Georgian government is using its utmost effort to strictly punish all those accused of killing Giga Otkhozoria.”
