The de facto president of occupied Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, held an emergency Security Council meeting following the arrest of opposition members in Sukhumi, which sparked protests and the "illegal blocking of the republican highway."
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The heads of the so-called law enforcement agencies reported to Bzhania that the arrests of the opposition members were due to an attack on a parliament member.
The so-called General Prosecutor of Abkhazia, Adgur Agrba, stated that after an extraordinary session of the de facto parliament, during which the "draft constitutional law on the regulation of the legal status of multifunctional complexes in Abkhazia" was discussed, a group of individuals in the parliament building's yard committed illegal actions against the deputy. Agrba noted that as a result of operational measures, four individuals - Gari Kokaia, Almaskhan Ardzinba, Omar Smiri, and Ramaz Jopua - were arrested and placed in the so-called temporary detention center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
"Currently, the prosecutor's office is conducting a procedural check, after which a legal assessment of the circumstances will be made," said the so-called General Prosecutor.
According to Agrba, the relatives of the detainees and opposition representatives, demanding their immediate release, attempted to forcefully enter the building of the State Security Service. However, law enforcement officers prevented them from doing so.
Opposition sources claim that their comrades were arrested on the evening of November 11 while returning to Sukhumi after a meeting with residents of Gudauta. According to their reports, at least five individuals were arrested - Omar Smiri, Gari Kokaia, Almaskhan Ardzinba, Ramaz Jopua, and Aslan Gvaramia. Opposition supporters blocked three bridges - the Gumismta upper and lower bridges, as well as the Kodori bridge - demanding the release of the detainees.
"Our demand is the release of our illegally detained comrades, who were barbarically arrested. We did not support, do not support, and never intended to support such actions, but this is a coercive measure, and I ask our people to understand it.
All these years, our actions have been peaceful, but the government itself provoked the situation.
"The fact that the detainees are being accused of some sort of altercation near the parliament building is not proportional to the manner in which they were detained," said Adgur Ardzinba, leader of the public organization People's Movement of Abkhazia.
According to Ardzinba, his comrades were brutally arrested, and now they are being denied access to their lawyers.
Adgur Ardzinba stated that the opposition intends to free the detainees and cancel the agreement that would allow Russian companies to carry out investment projects in Abkhazia.
On October 30, in Moscow, the Minister of Economic Development of Russia, Maxim Reshetnikov, and the de facto Vice Prime Minister of Abkhazia, Kristina Ozgan, signed an agreement allowing Russian legal entities to implement investment projects in Abkhazia. The document provides supporting measures for these companies. On November 11, the so-called Parliament of Abkhazia adopted a constitutional law regulating the legal status of multifunctional complexes in Abkhazia, which is part of this agreement. Aslan Bzhania signed the law on the same day. The issue of ratifying the agreement on investment projects is scheduled to be discussed at the so-called Parliament session on Friday, November 15. The opposition and their supporters have announced a protest.
