Irakli Bebua, Imprisoned in Occupied Abkhazia, in Severe Health Condition

‘’He doesn't talk about his health. Doesn't want to worry his family. But we found out from our sources that his health is deteriorating by the day. He lies down and sleeps all day. His severe psychological and depressive condition is also manifested in the fact that he does not want to leave his cell when he has the opportunity to do so. These reports scared us a lot,’’ says Tamar Bebua.

Irakli Bebua’s parents live in Tbilisi. He is their only child. Irakli had moved to the occupied Gali region to take care of his grandmother, who was left alone, and was arrested on September 30, 2020, on the charge of burning the Abkhazian flag.

He protested the celebration of the day of the fall of Sokhumi in occupied Abkhazia on September 27. During the search of his house, the de facto militia seized a hand grenade, which he allegedly kept under his pillow.

In the video, in which Irakli Bebua was likely being interrogated by the law enforcement agencies of the de facto government, he admits to burning the flag, although he explains that he has nothing against the Abkhazians, and on the contrary, he is in favor of friendly relations between these two peoples, and he burned the flag symbolically as a sign of protest against their division.

The de facto court convicted him of insulting state symbols, intentionally damaging someone else's property, and illegally storing weapons, and on December 7, 2020, sentenced him to 9 years in prison.

On September 28, 2023, the de facto parliament adopted a resolution ‘’On the amnesty dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the victory in the Abkhaz–Georgian war’’, however, the de facto deputy Daut Khutaba told Russian-language project of Radio Liberty, ‘Echo of the Caucasus’, that the amnesty will not apply to Irakli Bebua.

‘’No, he cannot receive amnesty. At first, we thought about it, but if we released the man who burned our flag on the day of the thirtieth anniversary of the victory, I think it would be blasphemy and he is not included in the amnesty. Amnesty is an act when you should not be interested at all in a specific person, in his fate, you should be basing your decision only on the offenses they are in prison for.

In this case, there was still a personal interest in a particular person not to receive amnesty. Yes, I asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs and they confirmed that this person is not subject to amnesty’’, said Khutaba.

On October 20, at the closed session of the Parliament, deputies asked the head of the State Security Service of Georgia, Grigol Liluashvili, about Irakli Bebua.

‘’The facility is providing him with medical care so that his immediate health is not threatened. Of course, the conditions are not going to be up to the European and civilized world's human rights standards, but at least his health and life are not in immediate danger. The state is deprived of effective control over the temporarily occupied territories. This should not be news to you. We are using all available levers, official, unofficial, formats, international partners, in order to achieve the release of our citizens, not just Bebua, there are other Georgians too’’, said Liluashvili after the session with the media.

Another citizen of Georgia is imprisoned in Russian-occupied Abkhazia. 25-year-old Kristine Takalandze, who the so-called prosecutor's office convicted for ‘espionage in favor of the Georgian special services’, was sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison.