Prime Minister Beslan Butba of the Republic of Abkhazia was assaulted while travelling with his family Wednesday. The vehicle in which the leader of the disputed state was travelling in was blocked in traffic, and Butba was beaten by two men before escaping.
Butba was travelling in a vehicle with his family in Sukhumi, a city in western Georgia and the capital of Abkhazia, when the car was cut off by another vehicle. Two men jumped out of the second vehicle and attacked the prime minister. Butba was able to escape, according to Raul Lolua of the Abkhazian interior ministry.
The extent of Butba’s injuries are not known, but he was able to call the interior ministry immediately after the incident.
The prime minister was travelling without his bodyguard when the attack happened.
The vehicle in which the attackers traveled has been detained by authorities at the Eshera checkpoint, according to sources. The identities of the two men and a woman who accompanied them are now being confirmed.
As reported by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS, the two assailants may have been intoxicated, and the prime minister may have suffered a concussion and was admitted to a hospital before returning home.
Also Saturday, tens of thousands of Georgian protesters in Tbilisi demonstrated against a planned agreement between Russia and Abkhazia. The deal would create a joint Russian-Abkhazian military force.
Demonstrators expressed concern that Russia would annex oil-rich Abkhazia in the same way it recently annexed Ukraine’s Crimea. Protesters waved flags that read, “STOP PUTIN” and “STOP RUSSIA.”
Abkhazia is a disputed territory also claimed by Georgia. Independent statehood is recognized by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Nauru, as well as other partially recognized separatist states in the region. Abkhazia is controlled by a separatist government which resides in exile in Tbilisi and not by the government of Georgia. The United Nations and most world governments hold that the territory does belong to Georgia, however.
By Jame Haleavy
Photo: Reuters