Opposition rally in Sukhumi turns into clashes with law enforcers

The OMON (riot police) fighters and military servicemen tried to disperse the protesters in Sukhumi, after which clashes broke out in the crowd. Trying to avoid bloodshed, opposition leaders urged their supporters to leave the square in front of the presidential administration and move to the Drama Theatre.

The Popular-Patriotic Union of Abkhazia (PPUA) initiated a rally on December 21, the reason for which was the conflict of some veterans of the Patriotic War of Abkhaz People in 1992-1993 with law enforcers on the Victory and Independence Day. The opposition went out to a rally demanding the resignation of President, Aslan Bzhaniya.

Mr Bzhaniya refused to come out to the protesters; and the crowd moved from the building of the Abkhaz Drama Theatre in Sukhumi, where the oppositional rally was held, to the presidential administration; there, OMON fighters and militaries began squeezing people away from the administration building.

The calls of opposition leaders to leave the square in front of the presidential administration and move back to the square near the Abkhaz Drama Theatre were ignored by their supporters, who tried to break through cordons; and clashes broke out of oppositionists and militaries, Rinat Ibragimov, a resident of the city of Gudauta, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 21, 2021 at 09:45 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.