Statement of the State Minister’s Office for Reconciliation and Civic Equality

20 May 2016
The State Minister’s Office for Reconciliation and Civic Equality expresses its condolences to the family and natives of Giga Otkhozoria, tragically died in village Khurcha of Zugdidi district on May 19.
The incident is a serious challenge to peaceful policy the Georgian Government pursues through last four years and is has a vast impact on the restoration of Georgian-Abkhaz relations and durable peace process.
Such cases should be unquestionably condemned by all sides. We do hope that power exercising effective control on the territory of Abkhazia will deliver serious response to the tragic incident, for ruling out any further possibilities of similar cases that disrupt the overall Georgian-Abkhaz peace process.
The Georgian side has already informed the EUMM and Co-chairs of Geneva International Discussions on the subject concerned. The Government of Georgia will do everything to give appropriate judgment to the murder on 19 May on international level and punish the criminals. The incident emphasizes the need for international security mechanism in the occupied territories again.
On 19 May at around 14.30 PM, in the vicinity of dividing line the armed person fired Giga Otkhozoria to death, the resident of village Barghebi, Gali district. Following the incident, emergency transported the injured person with multiple wounds to Zugdidi hospital, where he died.