Abkhaz opposition believes that pressure it faces from Kremlin was initiated from within Abkhazia
Moscow’s pressure on Abkhaz opposition
On the night of 20 to 21 April, Abkhaz opposition leader Adgur Ardzinba was detained for several hours by Russian border guards upon entering Russia, without explanation.
Opposition groups in Abkhazia are outraged by the lack of response from President Badr Gunba. They tend to place the blame for their troubles on the Abkhaz authorities rather than the Russian side.
Over the past few years, pressure and sanctions from Russian security services against Abkhaz opposition figures, civil society representatives, and journalists have taken on a more systematic character.
Abkhazian MPs Kan Kvarchia and Leuan Mikaa have been stripped of their Russian citizenship, three journalists have been added to Russia’s list of “foreign agents” by the Ministry of Justice, and several others have been banned from entering Russia for ten years.
The Abkhaz opposition believes that this entire “punitive” policy by Moscow was initiated by former president Aslan Bzhania.
New Abkhaz President Badr Gunba – seen as the de facto successor to Bzhania and elected with strong backing from the Kremlin – pledged in his campaign to overcome internal political divisions.
However, the opposition says nothing has changed.
“If the new authorities, while speaking of national unity, continue in practice to intimidate, humiliate and persecute, this is a direct path to deepening the already high level of socio-political tension in the republic.
We demand that the president, parliament, and government publicly explain the reasons for the detention of Adgur Ardzinba and other respected public and political figures,” declared the leading opposition party, the Forum for the National Unity of Abkhazia.
The veteran opposition organisation “Aruaa” is likewise convinced that “the source of these targeted repressions lies within the republic itself and is purely political in nature.”
“Aruaa” is calling on President Badr Gunba to immediately respond to the situation, abandon the practice of pressure and intimidation, and ensure the protection of the rights and freedoms of all Abkhaz citizens, regardless of their political views.
In addition to their appeal to the president, opposition figures are also addressing Sergei Kiriyenko, the deputy head of the Russian Presidential Administration and the Kremlin’s overseer for Abkhazia, asking him to take personal control of the matter and initiate an investigation into the actions of officials “who display bias towards Abkhaz politicians.”
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