President Zurabishvili awards family of brutally murdered Giga Otkhozoria with Medal for Civil Commitment

Giga Otkhozoria left behind a wife and two children. Photo: President's administration

Agenda.ge, 05 Jan 2019 - 19:16, Tbilisi,Georgia

President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili has awarded the family of Giga Otkhozoria with the Medal for Civil Commitment today in Zugdidi, where she attended a Presidential Christmas Tree event with the children of the late Otkhozoria.

“I have handed the Civil Commitment Medal to the children of Giga Otkhozoria as a sign that the country does not forget its heroes. Commitment is what Georgia stands on,” President Zurabishvili said.

It has been more than two and a half years since Otkhozoria, who was 31 years old at the time, was killed.

He was trying to transport food into the breakaway region of Abkhazia for a funeral ceremony for his late aunt on May 19, 2016.

Locals said the border guards demanded Otkhozoria pay a fine in exchange for transporting the goods, which caused a dispute. They said Otkhozoria ran away from the border guards but was shot as he retreated.

Otkhozoria left behind a wife and two children. Photo: President's administration

The Russia-controlled Abkhazia region leadership continues to refuse to punish so-called border-guard Rashid Kanjiogli, who brutally killed Giga Otkhozoria with six gunshots on Tbilisi-controlled territory two years ago.

Zugdidi City Court sentenced Rashid Kanjiogli to 12 years imprisonment on December 26, 2016. The man still walks free in Abkhazia.