Abkhazia refuses to extradite suspect of murder to Georgia

The border guard, suspected of killing a citizen of Georgia, will be punished in Abkhazia, should his guilt be proved, Raul Khajimba, the Abkhaz President, said today.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 19 in the village of Khurcha (Zugdidi District of Georgia), Giga Otkhozoriya, a resident of the Gali District of Abkhazia, was killed. The Abkhaz party, which on the same day opened a criminal case under the article of "murder", put forward the version that Otkhozoriya himself attacked the border guard, but the Georgian party insists on the border guard's guilt and confirms it with a video record of the incident.

On May 21, Georgian law enforcers said that they had identified the killer; and on May 27 it became known that Georgia had appealed to the Interpol. In June, the Georgian party, in the course of Geneva discussions, demanded to extradite the suspect of killing Otkhozoriya.

Today, Raul Khajimba has stated that the border guard suspected of murdering the citizen of Georgia "under the law and Constitution of Abkhazia, cannot be placed under the jurisdiction of another state."

Should his guilt be proved, the border guard will be punished, said the President of Abkhazia.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.