25 Bodies of Abkhazian War Victims Identified & Brought to Georgia

Georgia’s Ministry of refugees reports that 25 bodies of high-rank figures of the 1990s Georgia and other victims of Abkhazian War have been identified and returned to Georgia.

24 years after the Abkhazian war, among the deceased there were identified bodies of Security colonel Mamia Alasania, Sokhumi Mayor Guram Gabeskiria and members of the Council of Ministers of Abkhazia, Vakhtang Gegelashvili and Arshaul Shengelia.

“All of these 25 people are heroes…They had a chance to save themselves. However, they decided to fulfill their roles until the end of their lives and fight for Georgia’s independence,” Refugee Minister Sozar Subari said.

The Minister thanked the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Abkhazian side for fruitful work.

The Refugees Ministry reports that the civil funeral of the deceased will be held on October 16 in Holy Trinity Cathedral, and the following day the bodies will be buried with military honor at Dighomi Brothers’ Cemetery.

Furthermore, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Kvirikashvili has appealed to anyone having information on people who went missing due to the 1992-1993 war in Abkhazia region and 2008 Russia-Georgia war to inform the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

As Kvirikashvili noted at the governmental session of Wednesday, more than 2400 people have no information about their relatives that went mission in the reported period.

By Thea Morrison