Georgia Launches Criminal Case against Abkhaz Guard for Killing Georgian Citizen

TBILISI - Georgia’s law enforcement officials have launched a criminal case against the Abkhaz border guard accused of shooting Georgian Giga Otkhozoria on May 19.

Rashid Kanjioghli, an Abkhaz border guard, serving near the Khurcha-Nabakevi checkpoint on the contact line separating the Russian-backed breakaway region from the rest of Georgia, shot and killed the 31-year-old Otkhozoria after he attempted to cross the administrative border to attend his aunt’s funeral.

Kanjioghli allegedly shot Otkhozoria six times, including a fatal shot to the head, after he and three other Abkhaz border guards chased the victim back to the Georgian side of the separation line.

Georgia’s Prosecutor's Office requested that the court hold Kanjioghli in pre-trial detention once he is apprehended by Georgian authorities.

Related coverage: Abkhaz Border Guards Shoot and Kill Georgian Citizen

The prosecutor also said they would submit Kanjioghli’s name to Interpol to put more pressure on the pro-Russian rebel government in Abkhazia to hand over Kanjioghli to Georgian authorities.

Abkhazia's de facto foreign ministry released a statement saying they would discuss the incident with their Georgian counterparts at a security meeting in the Abkhaz town Gali later in May.

The Abkhaz authorities claimed the incident at the checkpoint occurred after Otkhozoria was denied entry into Abkhazia because he did not have the necessary travel documents. Abkhaz officials, however, offered no explanation as to why Otkhozoria was shot and killed on the Georgian side of the border.

The rebel government’s military prosecutor said the office would launch a criminal investigation into the incident.

Georgia’s Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Archil Talakvadze said Sunday that Georgia would bring those responsible for the killing of Otkhozoria to justice.

By Tamar Svanidze
Edited by Nicholas Waller