Political crisis in Abkhazia: Minister of Internal Affairs temporarily removed from office
Political crisis in Abkhazia continues
A political crisis in Abkhazia, caused by the beating of a deputy by the security forces continues. Residents of the village of Adzyubzha, the home village of the affected politician, are unhappy with the president’s decision to temporarily remove the minister of internal affairs from the office. They demand his complete resignation. After negotiations, the protesters dispersed, but with the condition that they return in a week.
Scandalous incident
It all started when the deputy Garry Kokaya, together with his fellow villagers from the village of Adzyubzha – veterans of the Georgian-Abkhaz war of 1992-93 – celebrated the Day of Victory and Independence of Abkhazia in a restaurant on the Sukhum embankment. After the feast, on the street, Kokaya fired several shots into the air with a pistol to celebrate.
At the same time, the President of Abkhazia Aslan Bzhania and his colleague from South Ossetia Anatoly Bibilov celebrated the holiday in a nearby restaurant.
The Minister of Internal Affairs Dmitry Dbar and the riot police who arrived on alarm immediately appeared at the scene. According to Dbar, seeing that Kokaya was drunk, he asked the deputy to give away the pistol, but he refused. Then the militiamen decided to take away the weapon by force.
As a result, Kokaya and several veterans were beaten and required medical attention.
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The next day, residents of the village of Adzyubzha gathered and appealed to the president and parliament with a demand to immediately remove Minister of Internal Affairs Dmitry Dbar and all those involved in the beating of the deputy and war veterans from their posts.
The parliament gathered for an emergency meeting, although it could not eventually adopt a resolution proposing to the president to temporarily remove from office the Minister of Internal Affairs Dmitry Dbar and all the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs involved in the incident.
The reaction of the authorities
In connection with the events, President Aslan Bzhania was forced to interrupt his business trip to Moscow and return to his homeland to resolve the situation.
At an emergency meeting of the Security Council, he temporarily dismissed the Minister of Internal Affairs Dmitry Dbar and all those involved in the incident from their posts mv x while the investigation was underway.
Nevertheless, the previously announced rally of residents of the village of Adzyubzha took place outside the walls of the Abkhaz parliament. Members of the opposition veteran organization Aruaa also came to support them.
The protesters were not satisfied with the president’s decision to temporarily remove the minister, considering it an ordinary political maneuver aimed at knocking down the protest wave. They demanded the resignation of the minister and all the policemen involved in this incident.
President Bzhania received a group of representatives from the village of Adzyubzha and explained that the Prosecutor General’s Office needed time to investigate the circumstances of the case, adding that until she finishes her work, he will not dismiss the minister.
Later, Vice President Badra Gumba and Security Council Secretary Sergei Shamba made a similar explanation to the protesters outside the parliament.
Temporarily dispersed rally
In the second half of the day, former deputy Akhra Bzhania spoke on behalf of “Aruaa” and proposed to disperse and wait for the investigation of the prosecutor’s office.
“This is not a political rally, we have no political demands. We demand one thing – a law against the citizens of Abkhazia, in this case, against our veterans. The ideology of our state should be based on respect for these people. If we shake this main foundation, we will not build states.
Thanks to your persistence, it was decided to start an investigation and temporarily remove the Minister of Internal Affairs from the office. You have achieved the main thing – justice at the moment. As a veteran, I appeal to young people. Let the parliament, which, it seems to me, has taken the right position, and our state, will be given deadlines determined by the procedures. A week, as the president said”, Bhatia said.
Adzyubzhinsky, after consulting among themselves separately, decided to agree with the proposal of “Aruaa”. On their behalf, the war veteran Givi Dopua called on everyone to disperse and wait for the decision of the authorities.
“I want to ask you, let’s wait these seven days. If a fair decision is made, we will come here and thank the President. And now I will ask everyone to disperse”, he said, after which people left the square near the parliament.
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