An anonymous opposition figure has claimed that Abkhazia’s President Aslan Bzhaniya reprimanded local officials for failing to contain recent protests against the aborted apartments law, and instructed them to provoke opposition figures. 

Sit Maan, an anonymous blogger who frequently posts reports about the government in Abkhazia on Pravda Abkhazia, a public Facebook group, claimed that Bzhaniya met with law enforcement officers and local officials on Friday evening.

Bzhaniya reportedly reprimanded them for their handling of the protests against the controversial apartments law, criticising law enforcement forces for their failure to detain protesters. 

Parliament was forced to withdraw the law after large street protests in Abkhazia. The law would have allowed foreign nationals to circumvent regulations preventing them from owning real estate in Abkhazia.

[Read more: Abkhazian Parliament withdraws apartments bill following public anger]

Citing anonymous sources within the Presidential Administration, Maan claimed that Bzhaniya instructed the local officials to provoke opposition figures into carrying out ‘illegal actions’, as well as suggesting that criminal groups should be encouraged to target opposition members so as to distract them from their political work.

According to Maan, Bzhaniya had told the local officials that they would become ‘paupers’ if the current government failed to win next year’s presidential elections.

They additionally claimed that Bzhaniya singled out several high-profile opposition figures during the meeting, including Aruaa chair Timur Gulia, former economy minister Adgur Ardzinba, and former Sukhumi (Sukhum) mayor Kan Kvarchia.  

On Friday evening, Bzhaniya dismissed State Security Service chair Ahiba Timur, which opposition commentators suggested related to his criticism of the body’s handling of the protests, appointing Dmitry Kuchuberia as acting chair in his stead.

The government has yet to confirm or deny whether the meeting took place.

 For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.