Abkhazian opposition figure Eshsou Kakaliya was wounded after a shootout in Sukhumi (Sukhum) on Saturday, the Abkhazian Health Ministry reported. He received gunshot wounds to both legs and fractures to his facial bones, which may have been caused during a separate beating incident.
Later that evening, the Abkhazian Interior Ministry reported that those involved in the incidents had been identified, all of whom were nephews of Beslan Eshba, the head of the presidential administration.
The following day, one person was detained.
Previously, Kakaliya and Kan Kvarchiya, another prominent opposition figure, had been calling for Eshba’s resignation.
On Sunday, a group of opposition figures released a statement condemning the attack and arguing it was politically motivated.
‘The armed attack that took place is a direct reprisal against a politician who dared to point out the numerous abuses of power by the current government’, they said, while also demanding the immediate resignation of Eshba and the criminal prosecution of all involved.
Kvarchiya went further, arguing that President Badra Gunba was also to blame.
‘With the tacit consent of the authorities, lawlessness is taking place in the country, and today we are also seeing legal lawlessness’, Kvarchiya said.
Both Kakaliya and Kvarchiya had been involved in a clash with and subsequent deportation of three Russian political consultants, or ‘journalists’ who were in Abkhazia during the 5 November local elections to support Team Abkhazia, a controversial NGO widely seen to be acting as both the proxy of Gunba and Russia. The confrontation appeared to have stemmed from the belief that the consultants were working for Team Abkhazia without proper registration and accreditation. The clash and its aftermath have continued to make waves in Abkhazia.
Later in November, Russia placed Kakaliya, Kvarchiya, and a third figure, under investigation on charges of armed robbery over the same incident.
OC Media
