Trial on high-profile murder in Abkhazia will be open, despite defendant protest

Murder trial in Abkhazia

Eric Chkadua, Beslan Bganba, Aslan Blabba, and brothers Dato and Demur Akhalaia are charged with the murder of criminal bosses Astamur Shamba and Alkhas Avidzba, a waitress of the San Remo restaurant Dominika Akirtava, and the attempted murder of Rustam Shamba and Shamil Avidzba.

Accused of committing the high-profile triple murder in 2019 in Abkhazia, the defendants have refused the services of their lawyers and left the courtroom after the court refused to close the process.

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“You come to the trial, the court has not yet given an assessment, and they already tell you whether you are a murderer or not. I want the opportunity to speak out calmly, ” said one of the defendants, Eric Chkadua. He also recalled how during one session, a verbal dispute ensued and one of the victims present in the hall threw either a glass or a bottle into the cage where the defendants were held (a clarification of what exactly it was was never was given).

Murder trial on the embankment in Abkhazia

On November 22, 2019, several people drove up in a car to the Ritsa Hotel on the embankment in Sukhum and opened fire with machine guns at visitors to the San Remo restaurant, located on the first floor of the hotel. Three people died. Two of them were apparently the main target – criminal bosses Astamur Shamba and Alkhas Avidzba. The third casualty was Dominika Akirtava, a 22-year-old restaurant waitress who died in hospital a few days later.

Murder trial on the embankment in Abkhazia

This execution led to the early resignation of former President Raul Khajimba. During the investigation, it turned out that among those suspected of involvement in this crime were people from the presidential guard.

Reports of each court session in the trial are shown on the evening news of local TV channels. It has become perhaps the most famous murder trial in Abkhazia, and so both the prosecutor’s office and the victims’ lawyer spoke out against the defendants’ request to close the process.

“I think this request is unfounded. On the contrary, the matter should be made public. Journalists accredited here should bring to the public all details of the investigation in order to believe the objectivity of the process,” said Deputy Prosecutor General Ruslan Tyrkba.

Immediately afterward, defendant Dato Akhalaia stated that he and the others on the bench were leaving the courtroom and did not want lawyers to continue to defend them.

Prosecutor Daur Amichba suggested that this decision was due to the fact that their detention would soon expire. The prosecution plans to request an extension, and without lawyers it will not be possible to petition for this.

Amichba suggested that the lawyers be summoned upon request and themeeting be concluded in their presence. The prosecutor then filed a motion to extend the detention by three months until 22 December. The court granted the request.

All of the defendants are charged with premeditated murder, illegal circulation of firearms, and deliberate destruction of other people’s property.

The trial is in its second year. Testimony of witnesses for the prosecution has already been heard. Now the court is in the process of studying written and other evidence.

Murder trial in Abkhazia