De-facto Abkhaz authorities say mourning at the occupation line was provocation

De facto leadership of the Georgian western occupied Abkhazia region calls provocation to relatives’ mourning of a deceased man on the occupation line.

Residents of Georgia’s occupied region of Abkhazia brought the 53-year-old deceased Gocha Tupuria near the Otobaia-Orsantia bridge last week for his relatives who were standing on the other side of the bridge to mourn as they were not allowed into the region, Radio Atinati reported.

Movement between the region and the rest of Georgia is available only with the use of temporary residency permits or after paying money.

“The sister of the deceased man was allowed to Otobaia after paying 200 GEL and she says that the occupants are now demanding an additional 200 GEL to allow her to return back [to the territory controlled by the central Georgian government],” one of the relatives told the media.

The people gathered at the bridge said that it was not the first time when they have to mourn a deceased person in such a situation.

A representative of the de facto region Temur Nadaraia says that the people at the bridge 'staged a provocation' based on the demands of the central Georgian government to discredit the Abkhazian authorities.

Nadaraia said that Abkhazia is an independent republic and those who wished to mourn the deceased they could apply for visas about ten 10 days before the burial.

Georgian Reconciliation Minister Ketevan Tsikhelashvili has called the statement of the de facto authorities 'inhumane' and stated that 'it is everyday life of the people living in and near the occupied territories'.

Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru and Syria have recognized the two Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali as independent republics in the wake of the Russia-Georgia 2008 war.

The rest of the international community confirms that the regions are occupied by Russia.

Venezuela will revoke its recognition if the interim government Juan Guaidó remains in power.