Irakli Bzhinava is accused of justifying terrorism due to publications about Basayev.
Law enforcement officials have initiated a new criminal case against the arrested Abkhaz lawyer Irakli Bzhinava in Rostov-on-Don. The reason for the prosecution was publications about the Chechen field commander Shamil Basayev.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on February 5, the head of the Abkhaz diaspora in the city, associate professor of the constitutional law department at the law faculty of SFedU, Irakli Bzhinava, was detained in Rostov-on-Don. A day before his detention, he criticized on his Facebook page the issuance of Russian passports in Abkhazia with "an oath of allegiance to the Russian Federation by citizens of an independent state." Later, Bzhinava was arrested "for anti-Russian statements and attempts to incite interethnic hatred on the internet."
The second criminal case has been initiated against the head of the public organization “Abkhaz Diaspora of Rostov-on-Don” and blogger Irakli Bzhinava. The new charge is related to “public justification on the internet of the terrorist Shamil Basayev,” reported the “Southern News Service” on September 15.
The Rostov Investigative Committee reported the same day about the initiation of a criminal case for public justification of terrorism online against “a 48-year-old man.” The name of the accused is not mentioned in the agency's report, but the specified age corresponds to that of Irakli Bzhinava.
According to the investigation, the accused in September 2023, while in the Rostov region, “spread statements containing justification of terrorist activities.” The content of these statements is not provided in the official release, and the name Shamil Basayev is not mentioned in it.
Shamil Basayev - organizer of a number of terrorist acts, including the hostage-taking in Budyonnovsk (1995), the theater center in Moscow (2002), and the school in Beslan (2004). He was killed on July 10, 2006. Since August 1992, he actively participated in military actions in Abkhazia, served as Deputy Minister of Defense of Abkhazia, and holds the title of Hero of Abkhazia.
A case is also being investigated against the man who is in custody for public calls to activities against state security , noted in the agency's Telegram channel.
The reason for the case regarding anti-state calls was a post by Bzhinava from December 23, 2022, dedicated to the agreement on the transfer of a state dacha to the Russian side in Pitsunda. “Bzhinava criticized this agreement, believing that it contradicts Abkhaz legislation,” notes JAMnews.
According to the publication, the trial in this case against Irakli Bzhinava began in Rostov-on-Don in June. The President of Abkhazia Badra Gunba, whom activists called to respond to the persecution of Bzhinava, later told journalists that “the investigation is within the competence of Russian law enforcement agencies,” since the arrested lawyer has dual Abkhaz-Russian citizenship and also lives and works in Russia. “In this sense, we cannot say that Mr. Bzhinava's constitutional rights have been violated,” Gunba stated.
Residents of Abkhazia are collecting signatures in support of Bzhinava
In Irakli Bzhinava's homeland, a signature collection in his support has been ongoing for about a month. Despite Gunba's stated position, residents of the republic demand that the leaders of Abkhazia “keep his case under control” and inform the public about its progress, reported the Instagram*-public novosti_abkhazia on October 15.
The signature collection in support of Bzhinava is being conducted both online through a Google form and in person - in Freedom Square in Sukhum daily from 16:00 to 19:00. The initiators of the collection are appealing to the President of Abkhazia and the Russian ambassador in the republic “to assist in ensuring the legal procedural and human rights” of Bzhinava.
A video recorded in the square by AGU teacher Alias Yezugbaya is posted on the page. “The signature collection in support of Irakli has been going on for almost a month (...) I have known Irakli for a long time, I know him as a colleague and professional, a good lawyer, an expert. Of course, it was unexpected news for me that Irakli is imprisoned. He has been in custody for seven months, and nothing is known about his fate, what he is being charged with,” says the man in the video.
"Caucasian Knot" also reported that on March 17, a court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced to 5.5 years a 37-year-old resident of Abkhazia, Timur Agrba, finding him guilty of public justification of terrorism. The basis for the sentence were 10 posts in Agrba's Telegram channel made from September 24 to December 4, 2024, when Agrba was in the Gudaout district of Abkhazia. According to Russian investigators, the publications created a "heroized image" of Shamil Basayev and other leaders of illegal armed groups in Chechnya.
The Russian court unjustifiably sentenced Timur Agrba to a term in a penal colony, as his publications contained not justifications of terrorism, but mentions of Shamil Basayev as an officially recognized hero of Abkhazia, the defense indicated.