Suspect arrested for the murder of a Russian woman in Abkhazia

The Gagra court has sent Edgar Abukhba to a pre-trial detention center, suspected of murdering 26-year-old tourist Amina Bikbova from the Orenburg region. Human Rights Commissioner Anas Kishmaria called this crime a result of systemic problems in the penitentiary system of Abkhazia.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on September 27, it became known that resident of Abkhazia Edgar Abukhba was detained on suspicion of murdering 26-year-old tourist Amina Bikbova from the Orenburg region, who had not been in contact with her relatives for three days. According to the investigation, Abukhba confessed to the murder of the girl.

The Gagra district court of Abkhazia has decided to detain the suspect in the murder of the tourist from the Orenburg region, TASS reported today, citing the prosecutor's office of Abkhazia.

"The Gagra district court granted the prosecutor's request for the detention of Edgar Abukhba, suspected of murdering a resident of the Orenburg region, for a period of two months," the agency quoted a representative of the supervisory authority.

The prosecutor's office confirmed that Abukhba had previously been sentenced to nine years in prison for the rape of a 20-year-old girl, causing serious bodily harm, and robbery. However, according to the current legislation in the republic, due to the lack of a proper prison facility, he was released about three years ago after serving 4.5 years of his sentence.

According to the head of the judicial department of the Abkhazian prosecutor's office, Daur Amichba, the case is under the personal control of the Attorney General Adgur Agrba, as reported by RIA "Novosti".

Human Rights Commissioner Anas Kishmaria previously published a statement on the official website regarding the murder of Amina Bikbova. According to Kishmaria, the tragedy was a result of systemic problems in the legislation and penitentiary system of Abkhazia.

She reminded that Edgar Abukhba had previously been sentenced to imprisonment for rape, sexual violence, causing serious bodily harm, and robbery. However, his nine-year sentence was reduced: the current legislation, due to the lack of a proper prison facility, provides for a system of sentence reduction based on the conditions of detention.

Moreover, as the ombudsman noted, during his imprisonment, no work was conducted with the convict that could identify tendencies in his behavior or influence him after his release.

"Thus, the absence of modern criminal-executive legislation, a modern prison, work with convicts, and monitoring of them after release led to the tragedy," Kishmaria stated.

In this regard, she once again called on the executive and legislative authorities to take the necessary measures to modernize the legislation in the field of the penitentiary system to prevent similar tragedies.

The ombudsman also pointed out the need to develop and conduct informational campaigns among high school students and college students to "develop a strong condemnation of such actions and crimes."

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that conflicts involving tourists regularly occur in Abkhazia. For example, on August 2, a resident of Cherkessk who came for vacation was attacked in Sukhum and was hospitalized with a concussion and other injuries. On June 9, residents of Abkhazia demanded a response from the authorities regarding a tourist from Sochi appearing in Gagra wearing a hat with the flag of Georgia. On August 26, a conflict occurred between tourists and local residents at Lake Ritsa. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Abkhazia, two tourists sustained soft tissue injuries and a concussion; three residents of Abkhazia were taken to the police station.