Gali resident detained after burning flag of occupied-Abkhazia region
In a video the dtained young man explains that he burnt the flag as a sign of protest, as on September 30 the region was celebrating the day of separation between the Abkhaz and Georgian people. He also explains that he respects Abkhazia, the Abkhaz people and also the flag of the Russia-occupied region. Photo: 1TV.ge.
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Irakli Bebua, a young ethnic Georgian man from the Gali district of Russia-occupied Abkhazia, has been detained after setting an Abkhaz flag on fire, while the region was celebrating the day of victory and independence on September 30.
On September 30 a video was shared among the region’s users of Facebook, in which the detained young man apologised to those who were offended by his action.
He explains that he burnt the flag as a sign of protest, as on September 30 the region was celebrating the day of separation between the Abkhaz and Georgian people. He also explains that he respects Abkhazia, the Abkhaz people and also the flag of the Russia-occupied region.
I beg Abkhaz and Georgian people to forgive each other and live in a friendly way, as they did before the separation”, says Irakli Bebua in a video.
Shortly after being released on social media, the video resulted in a negative reaction in the Abkhaz community. A majority of Facebook users made negative comments, some even threatened to kill the young man, saying that the man should not only be imprisoned, but also be murdered.
Responding to the issue, the Georgian State Security Service (SSS) said that Irakli Bebua was detained illegally and that his life is not in danger.
The illegally detained man is in Gali, his health condition is satisfactory and his life is not in danger. The Russian Federation bears full responsibility for the cases of illegal detention of people in the occupied territories of Georgia. This process, led by the occupation regime, significantly worsens the security environment along the occupation line, as well as the daily life of the local population. It is important the illegally detained person to be released unconditionally”, reads an official statement of the SSS.
The Gali district is the only part of Russia-occupied Abkhazia region where the vast majority of the population are ethnic Georgians.
Although they were allowed to return to their homes in the Gali districts after the end of 1992-93 Georgian-Abkhaz war, their life conditions are difficult till now.
In the middle of summer 2020, the Chairman of the Supreme Council of Abkhazia Jemal Gamakharia noted that residents of Gali in occupied Abkhazia could not receive IDP benefits and pensions for several months.
The reason is that these people used to receive this money in Zugdidi or elsewhere on Georgia-controlled territory but now the checkpoint is closed at the Enguri Bridge by the Sokhumi de-facto government amid the coronavirus.
A man from Georgia’s Russia-occupied Abkhazia has died after crossing the Enguri River to enter Tbilisi-controlled territory to meet with a family member, reports RFE/RL.
Residents of Gali in occupied Abkhazia have not received IDP benefits and pensions for four months, said Chairman of the Supreme Council of Abkhazia Jemal Gamakharia.
The individual accused of murdering Giga Otkhozoria last year near the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) separating Georgia and its breakaway region of Abkhazia has been given two additional years of detention, which now makes for 14-years of imprisonment in total.
Russian-controlled border guards monitoring the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) between Georgia and one of its occupied regions have detained two Georgian men and accused them of illegally crossing the so-called border.
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.
The de facto police of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region have summoned a 19-year-old Aliona Tania living in the region and her parents for interrogation after the girl said on her TikTok account that ‘Abkhazia is Georgia.’
The de facto Foreign Ministry of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region says that the early release of Georgian citizen Irakli Bebua, who was illegally sentenced to nine years in prison back in December 2020, is ‘not on the agenda.’
A covid patient has died at Gudauta district hospital in Russian-occupied Abkhazia due to a respiratory ventilator’s failure caused by an electricity outage, local media reports. Doctors started taking resuscitation measures immediately, however they were not able to save one patient, the so-called health ministry of Abkhazia reported.
Social activists and family members of Irakli Bebua, who was detained in 2020 by occupation forces for burning the flag of Abkhazia, gathered in front of the building of the government administration on September 19 and requested to be allowed to meet with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said the country’s Government was “doing its utmost” to free Irakli Bebua, an ethnic Georgian who was illegally sentenced to nine years in prison in 2020 by the de facto authorities of north-western Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region for burning the flag of the de facto region.