Abkhazia: 10-15 years in prison for ‘attempting to violate sovereignty of republic’
The Abkhaz parliament has passed a law ‘on the protection of the territorial integrity and inviolability of the Republic of Abkhazia’, which provides for 10-15 years in prison for actions aimed at violating the republic’s sovereignty.
• Op-ed: the only way out for the newly elected president of Abkhazia
• What do Abkhaz and Ossetians make of Georgia’s ‘A Step Towards a Better Future’ proposal?
The Abkhaz parliament passed the bill as another mechanism to protect the inviolability of its sovereignty.
The seventh chapter of the Constitution of Abkhazia, which previously laid out the legal response to the issue, states that it cannot be amended or amended to provide for the cancellation of independence or violation of the territorial integrity of Abkhazia. However, the penalties for such attempts were not spelled out in the criminal code.
In doing so, the Abkhaz legislature seeks to differentiate the republic from South Ossetia, where the majority of the political elite considers the independence of the republic only a springboard, the goal of which is to become part of the Russian Federation.
The Abkhaz state has a different view of its future. Any talk about changing the sovereignty of the country, both in the political elite and in the Abkhaz society itself, is perceived extremely negatively.
The parliament ruled that Abkhazia will not consider unification with Georgia, with which the republic is still in a state of unresolved conflict, nor with Russia, which, on the contrary, is allied with Abkhazia.
[su_button url=”https://jam-news.net/category/theme-pages-2/georgian-abkhaz-conflict/” target=”blank” background=”#e5e5e4″ color=”#8b3c3c” size=”7″ wide=”yes” radius=”10″ text_shadow=”0px 0px 0px #000000″ id=”В”]The Georgian-Abkhaz conflict: what you need to know[/su_button]
Under the new article of the Criminal Code, not only actions are included, but also any negotiations or discussions by officials on the issue of changing sovereignty or transfer to a foreign state of the entire territory of the Republic of Abkhazia or separation of any part of it from the republic.
Any “public calls for the implementation of actions aimed at violating the territorial integrity and inviolability of the Republic of Abkhazia” are also considered a crime by the bill.
Appeals will be considered including publications and messages in the media and on social media that will discuss the possibility of altering the sovereignty of Abkhazia.
Commentary
By journalist and political analyst
Inal Khashig
“In Abkhazia there is the seventh article of the constitution, which states that even through a referendum it is impossible to change the independent status of the Abkhaz state. Therefore, the inclusion of new articles in defense of sovereignty in the criminal code may look like an attempt to make the oil even more oily.
But this is a cursory glance.
The parliament is apparently working from the socio-economic and political crisis in which Abkhazia has been for several years. The protracted crisis cannot but raise doubts in that part of society that does not see the light at the end of the tunnel. This part of society believes that we are not able to put things in order on our own. Therefore, the new law is probably an attempt to strike a preventive blow at possible sentiments to look to the side, at someone who will help restore order.”
