Over a deal with Russia, protesters assault the parliament in the breakaway Georgia region of Abkhazia
The Russian-backed separatist Georgian region of Abkhazia saw protesters storm its parliament on Friday as opposition members called for the self-styled president to quit due to an unpopular investment deal with Moscow.
In the capital, Sukhumi, protesters broke past the metal gates enclosing the parliament with a truck. Following then, footage captured individuals chanting in the hallways and climbing through windows after tearing off metal bars.
Opposition leader and former deputy prosecutor general Eshsou Kakalia claimed that the demonstrators controlled the legislative building.
He was quoted by Russia’s Interfax news agency as saying, “We will now seek the resignation of the current president of Abkhazia.” Additionally, protesters stormed the presidential administration offices, which are housed in the same structure as the parliament.
Emergency services said at least eight people were taken to hospital.
The presidential administration said in a statement that authorities were preparing to withdraw the investment agreement with Russia that some Abkhaz fear will price them out of the property market.
Russian money
Legislators in Abkhazia were scheduled to vote on Friday to ratify an investment deal that Russian Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov and his Abkhazian colleague, Kristina Ozgan, inked in Moscow in October.
According to opposition leaders in Abkhazia, the deal with Moscow, which would permit investment projects by Russian legal organizations, would drive out locals from the real estate market by enabling a far larger influx of Russian capital.
According to a statement from the opposition, the demonstrators’ activities did not violate relations between Russia and Abkhazia.
Interfax quoted the statement as stating, “Abkhazian society had only one demand: to protect the interests of our citizens and our business, but neither the president nor the parliament have heard the voice of the people until today.”
After demonstrators gathered in central Sukhumi and stopped a major highway to demand the release of four activists, Abkhazia’s self-styled president, Aslan Bzhania, called an emergency security council meeting earlier this week.
The activists, who were later released, had been imprisoned for defying the implementation of a building industry regulation law that cited the Russian-Abkhazian accord.
When protesters overran the presidential office in 2014, Alexander Ankvab, the leader at the time, was forced to leave. He later resigned due to allegations of mismanagement and corruption.
After the 2014 upheaval, opposition leader Raul Khadzhimba was elected, but he was forced to resign in 2020 due to protests in the streets over the disputed election results.