An Abkhaz court has announced its verdict in the murder case of Kemal Ardzinba

The Supreme Court of Abkhazia sentenced the son of the republic's former deputy defense minister, Batal Pilia, to a lengthy prison term, finding him guilty of murdering the nephew of the first president. 

As reported by the " Caucasian Knot ," in May 2021, masked men shot and killed the nephew of Abkhazia's first president, Kemal Ardzinba, in Sukhumi. He died in the hospital from his wounds. Three days later,  the first suspect , 29-year-old Sukhumi resident Batal Pilia, was detained. The murdered Kemal Ardzinba had demonstrated no political ambitions but had connections to the criminal underworld, according to Abkhaz journalists. Batal Pilia, whose father served as Deputy Minister of Defense until 2021, had multiple criminal convictions  before his arrest in Ardzinba's murder .

The Supreme Court of Abkhazia found Batal Pilia guilty of the murder of Kemal Ardzinba and sentenced him to 11 years in a maximum-security prison, the Sputnik Abkhazia news agency reported. 

Piliya's sentence begins on the date of his arrest, May 19, 2021. At the time of the crime, he was supposed to be under house arrest for another case. It is unclear whether Piliya pleaded guilty during the trial. 

The Supreme Court has been hearing the case of Kemal Ardzinba's murder since October 2022. Although the Ministry of Internal Affairs named one of two probable accomplices to the murder shortly after the crime, they were never identified during the investigation, and Batal Pilia remained the only defendant.