2016-06-06
More than 2 weeks have passed since the vicious crime that appalled all of us. Unfortunately, till this very moment we have not received information concerning the detention of the murderer of Giga Otkhozoria.
It is outraging that this tragic fact has undermined the positive results attained throughout the confidence building process. Moreover, continuation of meetings within the frames of Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism becomes increasingly challenging. This fact will also hamper the dialogue under the umbrella of Geneva talks till the representatives of de facto Abkhaz Government remain stagnant in terms of detention of the murderer of Giga Otkhozoria.
We consider Gali Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism to be a result of hard work. During the last meeting held within the frames of the said format our representatives handed all materials to the participants of the meeting, but unfortunately the result has not been attained yet.
In the given case there is a risk that the murderer will be liquidated. Moreover, the party directly interested in the disruption of the confidence building process may accomplish this.
Hence, we believe that much is at stake! We are facing enormous risks. The sole rational and correct action is to immediately arrest the murderer even within the frames of unilateral tools employed by de facto Abkhaz Government that we do not recognize.
Of course, within the frames of Gali meeting we demanded prompt arrest of the criminal, but representatives of de facto Government of Abkhazia immediately linked this issue to the question of their status and referred to the nonexistence of the relevant legislative framework. Due to the urgent character of the issue we consider the arrest of the criminal to be vitally important.
The confidence between the Georgians and the Abkhazians should be restored. Exemption from punishment of the perpetrator of such a violent crime will only open wounds. This only serves the interest of enemies of the Georgians and the Abkhazians. Therefore, we need a cool head approach to reintegrate this deadlock situation with joint efforts.
Prime Minister's Press Office