Illegally Detained Citizen Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison in Abkhazia

Irakli Bebua, an ethnic Georgian man living in the Gali district of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region, has been sentenced to 9 years in prison, the State Security Service reports.

The SSSG has received the relevant information through the hotline. The decision was made on December 7.

The Agency says the co-chairs of the Geneva International Talks were immediately informed about the mentioned fact. All existing mechanisms have been put in place. The SSSG is actively working with international partners regarding the issue of Irakli Bebua.

Further, the unconditional release of all Georgian citizens illegally detained in the occupied territories will be raised at the next round of international talks scheduled for December 10-11 in Geneva.

Irakli Bebua, a resident of Gali, was arrested for burning an Abkhazian flag, and the de facto Ministry of Internal Affairs of Abkhazia later issued a statement saying that a grenade had been found in his house. The relevant information was spread on September 30.

Irakli Bebua himself explained during the interrogation that he has nothing against either the flag or the people and that this act was carried out only because he wants Abkhazians and Georgians to live together as before, again in a friendly way.

By Ana Dumbadze