In Gali District of Abkhazia, local resident Lasha Belkaniya kidnapped

Lasha Belkaniya, a resident of the village of Khumushkhur of the Gali District of Abkhazia, born in 1977, was kidnapped last night from his home. This was reported by a representative of the local OVD (Interior Division).

On June 21, at about 10:00 p.m., two unidentified men, one of whom was in mask, broke into the courtyard of Lasha Belkaniya. This was reported by Laurens Kogoniya, Chief of the Gali ROVD (District Interior Division). He has emphasized that, according to witnesses, criminals spoke Megrelian language and behaved provocatively.

The criminals shelled the owner's car from submachine guns of 5.45 mm and 7.62 mm calibre, then, they kidnapped Lasha Belkaniya and drove him away to some unknown destination. In 40 minutes, the criminals called from the mobile phone, belonging to the kidnapped man, his relatives and demanded a ransom in the amount of 50,000 US dollars. The ROVD has reported that the criminals threaten to kill the hostage, if the ransom is not paid within two days.

The district power agencies carry out operational activities to find the criminals and reveal whereabouts of Lasha Belkaniya.

It should be noted that today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Abkhazia issued a statement, in which it rested responsibility for escalation of tensions in the Gali District of Abkhazia upon Georgia. "Statistics of terror acts, committed in the Gali District, proves that Georgia carries out a targeted campaign to intimidate the residents of this region of Abkhazia," the statement reports. The MFA calls on participants of the Geneva talks "to exert influence on the Georgian side and force it to stop terror acts in the territory of Abkhazia, which can contribute to dangerous destabilization of the situation in the region and breakdown of negotiations in Geneva."