Opinioin: 'Vandalism and security threats: Which laws did Russian political operatives break in Abkhazia?'

Russian political consultants in Abkhazia

Abkhazia is investigating a scandal involving Russian political operatives who worked illegally for pro-government candidates ahead of municipal elections on 8 November.

During parliamentary hearings, the interior minister, head of the state security service, and attorney general said the operatives’ devices, which contained all the evidence, cannot be used in the case. The authorities received them from activists who exposed the operatives, meaning the case only qualifies as an administrative offence.

Russian political strategists secretly worked for pro-presidential candidates in Abkhazia

One ran a “local” newspaper and was smearing opponents, the other secretly worked at the Election Commission. The opposition exposed them, but the “consultants” were simply expelled from Abkhazia

Meanwhile, the local Telegram channel Abkhaz Analytical Center offered its take on the incident.

The channel listed the specific Abkhaz laws that the Russian operatives allegedly violated:

• Illegal employment without a permit: Russian citizens working as political consultants or journalists for pay must hold a permit or licence. Operating without one constitutes a clear administrative offence.
• Organising vandalism and hooliganism: Individually tearing down campaign posters is an offence, while orchestrating such actions is considered an aggravating factor.
• Involving minors in unlawful activities: Paying teenagers to commit vandalism amounts to a criminal offence.
• Undermining the constitutional order and electoral fairness: Deliberately creating unequal conditions for candidates distorts democratic principles.
• Violation of electoral law (bribery): Paying for actions that influence voting, including vandalism, can count as voter bribery or interference with election commissions. Under migration law, foreign nationals cannot hire third parties for work.

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• Creating a national security threat: A foreign citizen organising a campaign to systematically break the law in order to influence election results could be seen as threatening Abkhazia’s sovereignty and security.
• Illegal entrepreneurship: Under Abkhaz tax and administrative law, providing commercial services (in this case, political consulting) without registration, a licence, or paying taxes constitutes an offence.
• Abuse of trust and deception of official bodies: Posing as journalists to conceal actual commercial or political activity can qualify as fraud.
• Violating the principle of equal conditions for candidates: Funding and coordinating a group to deliberately remove opponents’ campaign materials creates unequal conditions, undermining the fairness of elections.
• Creating a parallel illegal governance structure: Setting up a “Municipal Assembly of Deputies” under external direction to control local councils violates local sovereignty. Such bodies can only be formed by deputies themselves for consultative purposes.

The Abkhaz Analytical Center concludes that the actions of the Russian political consultants included both direct legal violations and systematic measures undermining constitutional foundations.

“This provides grounds to initiate both administrative and criminal proceedings against them and their clients,” the channel’s authors say.

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Russian political consultants in Abkhazia