Occupied Sokhumi Addresses Moscow on Possible Poisoning of 'Presidential Candidate'
Georgia’s occupied region of Abkhazia, which has been under the control of Russia since the 2008 August War, gave an ultimatum to Moscow regarding the possible poisoning of its so called presidential candidate, Aslan Bzhania.
Valery Bganba, de facto Acting President of Abkhazia, addressed the Russian Ambassador to occupied Abkhazia, Alexey Dvinyanin, asking him to hand over the materials on the possible poisoning of Bzhania and demanded that the Russian Prosecutor's Office launch an investigation into the case.
Abkhaz politician and "presidential candidate" Bzhania was hospitalized on the Russian territory both before the 2019 ‘Abkhazian presidential elections’ and also before the March 22, 2020 so called elections, in both cases with a possible diagnosis of poisoning. The official reports say that in a private conversation with the de facto Abkhazian minister of health, Bzhania's doctor in Russia named the reason of Bzhania’s health deterioration as pneumonia.
However, Bganba said Russian news outlets are talking about Bzhania’s having been poisoned, taking the information from anonymous sources.
"We consider this an open attempt to destabilize the socio-political situation in the republic of Abkhazia, which can even trigger civil controversy," Bganba said.
The senior Abkhaz official demanded that the so called prosecutor's office of Abkhazia immediately be sent all available information on the case, including a medical report from Moscow. He also requested the launch of a criminal investigation by the Russian General Prosecutor's Office into the possible poisoning of Bzhania in Sochi earlier this week.
On Wednesday, Ambassador Dvinyanin responded to Bganba and to Russian media outlets' dissemination of “misinformation about the state of health of the presidential candidate.”
Abkhazian media reported that the Russian Ambassador said he would take the mentioned concern to the leadership of the Russian Federation.
“Of course, we will deal with the facts - fake and falsified, which are being disseminated by the media, and we will find out if they really took place or if they are fake, as is common on social media,” Dvinyanin stated.
Before Dvinyanin’s reply, Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov also commented on the appeal of the Abkhaz side, saying the case will be thoroughly studied and analyzed.
“This appeal, of course, will be reported to the country's leadership and will be analyzed accordingly,” Peskov told reporters.
The de facto acting president of Abkhazia also noted that if the requests of the Abkhazian side are not met, occupied Sokhumi will view this as an unfriendly attitude towards Abkhazia and will reserve the right to take measures to protect the so called sovereignty of the ‘country’ and its citizens.
Abkhaz and Russian media outlets report that Bzhania, 56, was admitted on March 2 to the hospital in Sochi, where doctors induced a coma and flew him by helicopter to a hospital in Krasnodar.
The news about the possible poisoning of Bzhania sparked protests in Georgia’s occupied region. Local media reports that hundreds of supporters of Aslan Bzhania, one of the three main ‘presidential candidates’ of Russian-occupied Abkhazia, stormed the ‘presidential administration’ office in Sokhumi, demanding the resignation of acting leader Bganba.
Bzhania’s supporters believe that the main opposition leader was poisoned to prevent him from participating in the March 22 ‘elections’. In 2019, Bzhania, a Soviet KGB school graduate, was the main opponent of then ‘president’ Raul Khajimba during the 2019 ‘elections,’ however, he dropped out due to poor health caused by his being poisoned with heavy metals.
By Tea Mariamidze
Image source: totallylost.eu