Georgia’s PM: “Imperative” to apprehend murdering ABL border guard

Almost three weeks has passed since a Georgian man was gunned down near the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) separating de facto Abkhazia and rest of Georgia but the border guard who fired the fatal shots has not been apprehended.

Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili issued a special statement late last night about the incident and said it was imperative the offender was held responsible for the "vicious crime that appalled all of us”.

In the statement Kvirikashvili said Georgia had not received confirmation that the offender had been detained.

"It is outraging that this tragic fact has undermined the positive results attained [between Georgia and the breakaway Abkhazia region] throughout the confidence building process,” Kvirikashvili said.

"Furthermore, the continuation of meetings within the framework of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism becomes increasingly challenging. This fact will also hamper the dialogue under the umbrella of the Geneva Talks while representatives of the de facto Abkhaz government remain stagnant about the detention of the man who murdered Giga Otkhozoria.”

Otkhozoria, 31, was on Georgian-controlled territory when he was confronted by several Russian-controlled border guards stationed near the ABL with breakaway Abkhazia.

Video of the incident released a few days later showed Otkhozoria retreating from a confrontation with the guards when he was shot by one of them about 2.30pm on May 19.

Otkhozoria was shot six times, including once in the face. He was rushed to hospital but died soon after.

On May 21 Georgia’s Chief Prosecutor’s Office announced the man who shot Otkhozoria had been identified.

The Chief Prosecutor’s Office approached Interpol to announce an international search for the man who shot and killed Otkhozitia.

Meanwhile in the PM’s statement last night, Kvirikashvili said at the recent IPRM meeting in Gali the Georgian side had handed over several materials to de facto Abkhaz leaders about the shooting incident in the hope the offender would be detained and duly punished.

Kvirikashvili said Georgia demanded the prompt arrest of the criminal but representatives of de facto Government of Abkhazia immediately linked this issue to the question of their status and referred to the nonexistence of the relevant legislative framework.

"Due to the urgent character of the issue we consider the arrest of the criminal to be vitally important,” he added.

"The confidence between the Georgians and the Abkhazians should be restored. Exemption from punishment of the perpetrator of such a violent crime will only open wounds.”

"This only serves the interest of enemies of the Georgians and the Abkhazians. Therefore, we need a cool head approach to reintegrate this deadlock situation with joint efforts.”

Otkhozoria is survived by his wife and two children.