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Where Was the Disappeared Abkhazian captive?

November 18, 2010
Mari Otarashvili, magazine Resonance

The disappeared Abkhazian Gari Jopua was discovered several days ago. As the de-facto Abkhazian leaders assure he was taken captive by Georgian side and has been severely beaten and tortured. He is in rather severe condition in Gulripshi hospital. Sokhumi states that there are secret prisons in Georgia where people kidnapped from Abkhazia and South Ossetia are hidden.

The fact of Jopua’s detainment is categorically denied both by Abkhazian legitimate government and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia. These departments even blame de facto leaders in the blackmailing. The conflict scientist Paata Zakaerishvili links Jopua’s appearance to the derangement of the five-sided meeting on November 2nd in Chuburkhinji where the representative of Abkhazian delegation Raul Kishmaria raised the case of Jopua’s disappearance.

Abkhazia de facto foreign minister Maksim Ghvinjia visited severely beaten Gari Jopua in Gulripshi hospital. As Ghvinjia states he was held captive by Georgian side. According to de facto Foreign Ministry press service, Jopua was tortured and beaten while being captive. Different injuries on his body asserts the corresponding.

According to Ghvinjia, this kind of treatment of captive is inadmissible in the 21st century and this fact should definitely be given adequate assessment.

“We can’t tolerate these kinds of actions by Georgian side! You can’t treat Abkhazian citizen like this just because he is from Abkhazia. This kind of cruelty, in the first place, is directed towards intimidation of Abkhazin citizens, and on the other side, it talks about the aggressive intentions of Georgia,” – states Ghvinjia with local press.

According to Abkhazian media, several days ago Georgian side brought Gari Jopua to the Russian checkpoint after holding him captive for a month. According to him, the former captive is still zombied that means he was terribly treated while in captivity.

Besides, Abkhazian de facto Foreign Ministry assures that there are secret prisons in Georgia where periodically people kidnapped from Abkhazia are held captives. The representatives of Abkhazia de facto President Raul Kishmaria also talks about this: “There are not only Abkhazian citizens in this prison, but the people kidnapped from South Osettia as well. We know about many facts of the disappearances which were discovered eventually. It is very hard to talk to Georgian side about this. We addressed European Observation Mission, UN and other international organizations on this issue. It seems like they are applying certain measures, but ultimately deny our address. When we talk about the disappearance of Georgian citizens, all the international organizations are active, everybody is calling and sending requests. Everybody knows the fact when the EU special representative in South Caucasia Peter Semneby personally came here to help the detained Georgian criminals.”

Abkhazian side called on the international organizations to conduct monitoring of Georgians prisons to ultimately find out where the Abkhazian citizens Davit Sigua and Gari Jopua are.

According to apsni.pres, Gari Jopua was detained by the representatives of Georgian special services in the surrounding territories of administrative border, near the village Khurcha on October 9, 2010. For now, Gari Jopua is “zombie” and can’t even recognize his relatives. He is going through treatment in the hospital.

“It is not excluded that in the Georgian territory where Jopua was detained, the psychotropic drugs were used against him,” – assumes ,,apsni.press”.

As for Davit Sigua, an official of Gali de facto administration, nothing is known about him yet. According to data of Sokhumi government, he was kidnapped from his house in Gali in the February of 2007.

“We requested from international organizations to somehow react upon this,” – stated the head of international matters department of Abkhazia de facto Foreign Ministry Lana Agrba.
Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs categorically denies the fact of Gari Jopua’s detainment.

It is significant that Abkhazian side made sharp statements on these captives on November 2nd. On that day, five-sided meeting was planned in the frameworks the incident preventions and the relevant reactions.

As the representative of Abkhazia de facto President Ruslan Kishmaria and the head of the de facto Foreign Ministry International Matters Department Lana Agrba stated at the press conference, international organizations did not pay attention to their appeal on the disappearance of Abkhazian citizens in Georgian territory. Ultimately, the offended Abkhazians deranged the five-sided meeting planned in the aegis of UN.

Kishmaria told the following about the disappearance of Gari Jopua: “Jopua went to the village Kurcha (near the village Nabakevi in Gali region). It was 9 o’clock in the morning. There are witnesses among the local population who state that Georgian policemen came up to the Gazelle car with Russian license numbers, driven by Jopua. One of them sat inside the car and started talking with Jopua. Then Gari Jopua got lost. On the second day, October 10th, we addressed the Georgian side. I met with the head of Zugdidi regional police and head of Zugdidi police. They told me that never detained Jopua. So to speak, despite the witnesses, Georgian side categorically denies this fact. We have heard this kind of response on the lost citizens numerous times. Everybody, including the group of European Monitoring Group, admits that Jopua’s car was sitting in the village of Khurcha for several days. This fact asserts that this person came and got lost there.”

According to him, the Abkhazian side asked all the participants to publish the list of those policemen who were on the post in Khurcha on October 9th. “We will name the policeman who participated in the kidnapping of Jopua. But Georgian side categorically refused to render this request on the grounds of confidentiality. Nothing is secret here, but they were scared that we would name the concrete individuals and the witnesses,” – stated Kishmaria.

When there is talk about the captives, Georgian side recalls Demur Gogokhia, who, according to Georgian side was moved to Drand prison in Abhkazia on February 27th.

Georgian side assures that the reason of his death was beating. Abkhazians are not confirming this information bringing the note used by the doctor Guram Shoua from Agudzera hospital as evidence. According to the note, Gogokhia dies in the Drand prison because of kidney shortage.

The legitimate government of Abkhazia categorically denies the fact of Jopua’s detainment.

Tornike Kilanava, the representative of legitimate government of Abkhazia in Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti: “I have no idea on what grounds Ghvinjia and Kishmaria base these statements. We know that Georgian side never detained Gari Jopua. It is unknown where this person was lost. The fact that Gari Jopua was held captive is blackmailing and provocation by Abkhazian side. He was never detained by Georgian side.”

The head of the analytical department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Shota Utiashvili states the same: “Gari Jopua was never detained by Georgian side. Jopua got lost somewhere near the river Enguri. Then the Abkhazians stated as if he was killed by Georgian special forces. Then the Abkhazians used this to derange the meeting planned in Gali. One day Jopua showed up and since Abkhazians could no longer say he was killed by Georgian, the only thing they could have said was that he was tortured. I have no idea where he got lost. But he was surely never detained by Georgian side.”

As for Davit Sigua, Utiashvili states that this person really got lost and nobody could find his path. “The criminal case has been filed against him, but nothing is known yet,” – states Shota Utiashvili while talking with Resonance.

The conflict scientist Paata Zakareishvili recalls the stories when Georgian side took five Osettian citizens – Pavlik and Iakob Tekhovs, Vladimir Eloev, Ibragim Laliev and Lavrent Kaziev captive but persistently denied this fact. But after the Council of Europe Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg’s involvement in the case, they were freed.

Paata Zakareishvili: “I remember how Gori police took captives, but categorically denied this. The same facts are known about Abkhazian captives. Let’s recall Davit Sigua’s disappearance about whom nothing is known yet. Georgian side should investigate both cases if it really wants to prove its innocence in regards with Jopua and Sigua.”

According to Zakareishvili, the fact that Jopua’s release followed the derangement of five-sided meeting in Chuburkhinji, is not accidental: “The Abkhazian side left the meeting held in Chuburkhinji as a form of protest about Jopua. Kishmaria directly stated that unless Jopua was released, they would not take part in any meeting. This is when Jopua appeared. I can’t say for sure, but I think this is not accidental.”

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