Merab Kolbaya, a kidnapped resident of Abkhazia, is still being forcibly kept in the territory of Georgia

Merab Kolbaya, resident of Gali district of Abkhazia, is still being forcibly kept in the territory of Georgia. "Caucasian Knot" received this news from law enforcement bodies of Abkhazia.

Abkhazian delegation raised the question of Kolbaya's release at the latest round of Geneva discussions on security and stability in Transcaucasia on March, 4.

Viacheslav Chirikba, Head of Abkhazian delegation at Geneva discussions, declared on March, 10, that "Kolbaya was detained in a very cruel way: his legs were shot through, then he was taken out of his home and carried off to the territory of Georgia".

"There is evidence from eyewitnesses, Kolbaya's relatives, in whose very eyes he was kidnapped. Public prosecutor's office of the Republic of Abkhazia started criminal proceedings on this serious incident", Chirikba said at Geneva discussions on March, 4.

According to Chirikba, "Georgia has twice attempted to kidnap Kolbaya, in December, 2010, and January, 2011".

"On December, 7, 2010, a group of six or seven camouflaged men with self-firers attacked Merab Kolbaya's house in the settlement of Chuburkhuinaj, Gali district, but he managed to hide himself in his neighbour's house which was attacked by the armed group, then its members escaped in the BMW car belonging to Kolbaya, - Chirikba said. - The second attempt of Kolbaya's kidnapping took place on January, 26, 2011 when an armed group of seven people appeared in the territory of Abkhazia from Georgia. The group was noticed by Abkhazian security agents and a skirmish began as a result after which the group escaped to the territory of Georgia. The third diversionists' attempt to kidnap Kolbaya on February, 2011, was successful".

Shota Utiashvili, Chief of Informational and analytic department of the Georgian Ministry of Interior Affairs, declared that the demand to give Kolbaya out was an absurd one. According to the version of the Ministry of Interior Affairs of Georgia, Kolbaya was one of the organizers and executors of acts of terror committed on the Russian secret services' instructions. In particular, he is accused of involvement in the explosion near the office of Labour party of Georgia on November, 28, 2010, as a result of which a fifty-eight-year-old woman perished, and also the one in the settlement of Mukhiani in Tbilisi.

Chirikba reported that during a pentalateral meeting on January, 31, in Gali within the framework of the Mechanism of prevention and reacting to incidents (MPRI) representatives of Georgia appealed to the Abkhazian party demanding Kolbaya's extradition as a suspect of subversive acts in the territory of Georgia.

However they produced no written statements addressed to the Abkhazian authorities containing any available facts of what was being incriminated to Kolbaya", - Chirikba said. He added that he had already spoken about that during the last round of Geneva discussions and emphasized that "Abkhazia never gave out its citizens to other countries".

"This would be possible only on the basis of a bilateral agreement of mutual extradition of criminals between Abkhazia and Georgia but there is no such agreement between these countries", Chirikba said.

He specially emphasized that Kolbaya's kidnapping took place in the territory of Abkhazia which had been proven by the evidence of his relatives in whose house the incident happened.

"Besides, Georgian mass media reported Kolbaya's detention in the Abkhazian territory referring to sources in the Ministry of Interior Affairs of Georgia although Shota Utiashvili refused to specify the exact place of Georgian secret services' special operation explaining that Kolbaya got "just a slight wound which constituted no danger for his health", Chirikba emphasized.

According to Chirikba's information, on February, 22, this year, an armed special squad consisting of 5 or 8 people penetrated into the territory of Abkhazia, between the villages of Dikhazurga and Chuburkhindj, with the instructions to kidnap a local resident Mukhran Tskhaday who like Kolbaya was accused of subversive acts in the territory of Georgia. In the evening, at 22:00, Abkhazian secret services noticed the group however it managed to return freely to the territory of Georgia.

"Kidnapping the Abkhazian citizen Merab Kolbaya is qualified by the Abkhazian party as an act of terror committed by armed personnel of the Ministry of Interior Affairs of Georgia aimed at destabilization of the situation in Gali district of Abkhazia and establishing an atmosphere of fear and panic among the residents of Gali district of Abkhazia", Chirikba emphasized.