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Georgian Cars Detained in De-Facto Republic of Abkhazia

February 6, 2006

Georgian Cars Detained in De-Facto Republic of Abkhazia

The Abkhazian police organizes raids into low-lying villages to find cars registered on the territory of Georgia. Police officers say that they should obtain the names of the cars’ owners and register them for the purposes of control. This is the main reason for the searches carried out in the Georgian villages of the Gali region, such as Pichori, Otobaya and Nakarghali. On the 1st of February, Abkhazian police officers took three Georgians from the village Pichori, who where released later on. According to one of the arrested Georgians - G.R., police officers were interested in the last routs made by the cars. “My mother is ill, so I had to take her to Zugdidi for treatment quite often. You should not have Georgian numbers when living in Abkhazia, they said. They treated us well, we just paid a fine”.

The population is concerned with the raids, which are occur almost once in every two weeks, in which Abkhazians, together with cars with Georgian license plates, often take products away from the population. Six cars were confiscated from the Georgians in the last two months. Removed cars are stored in the Gali department of the Abkhazian Police and are returned to the owners after paying a fine. Georgians, living on the territory of Abkhazia declare that the fine, which is approximately 500-700 roubles (20-25 USD), is difficult for people to pay. Georgians are afraid to protest against law violations from the Abkhazian side, while the Georgian government is unable to protect their citizens.

Maya Gubeladze from Zugdidi

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