Border violations and murder discussed in Gali

An Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism Meeting was held in the Gali district of Georgia’s occupied region of Abkhazia on July 20. The main issues discussed were violations of the administrative border by Russian helicopters in June and the murder of Gogita Anjaparidze, who was tortured to death in Sokhumi prison.

“The Russian side has several times violated the law. Their helicopters frequently cross the border, and despite the Russians strongly denying this we have plenty of material which proves it. We have given this to our foreign allies and they share our viewpoint,” Head of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs' Analytical Department Shota Utiashvili stated after the meeting.

The occupation regime arrested Anjaparidze in the village of Nabakevi on June 21, following the murder of Dimitry Katsia, Governor of the village of Repi in Gali. He was taken to the Sokhumi isolator, where was brutally beaten to death. The occupiers gave the corpse of the murdered Georgian to his family only ten days later. An Abkhazian militia operation which involved burning houses and beating young people in the village of Dikhazurga is linked to the murder of Katsia.

“The Russian side said that Anjaparidze died of a heart attack, but this is absurd. The real reason is that he was beaten up to avenge the death of Katsia,” stated Utiashvili, who added, "We also talked about what the occupiers and international organisations are doing to restore the houses of Georgians which were burnt-out in the incident that took place at the beginning of June.”

Head of the EUMM Hansjorg Haber did not comment after the meeting, but had said beforehand that "The latest incidents at the administrative borders will be discussed.”