Khurcha Incident: Will the Guilty ever be punished?

Nana Pazhava, Zugdidi

Georgian law enforcers have not published any investigation materials on Khurcha incident up to present time. The incident in Khurcha occurred on May 21, 2008, on the parliamentary Election Day in Georgia. The investigation results have not been evaluated by the representatives of the peacekeeping forces operating in Georgian-Abkhazian conflict zone as well. The UN mission to the conflict zone is still reluctant to make any concrete conclusions. Representatives of Commonwealth of Independent States’ (CIS) peacekeeping forces have been the only ones to provide statements.

State Security Department of de facto government of Abkhazia has already presented the investigation materials and denied the possibility of Abkhazian law enforcers’ participation in the incident.  However, the society has still many hard questions to ask.
Nonetheless, the Human Right Center in Georgia ran a report on this incident the very next day, which has raised disturbing questions regarding the authenticity of “separatists attempting to kill Georgians” who wanted to participate in parliamentary elections.

Regardless of the ledger of guilt or innocence, it now appears that “The explosion of buses was a staged event by Georgian Special Services,” stated Vladimir Arlan, deputy head of the State Security Department of Abkhazia. He also told that Georgian government’s allegations about Abkhaz soldiers shooting the bus that was carrying people to the Georgian controlled territory so they could participate in parliamentary election are false and groundless.

The State Security Department of Abkhazia investigated that the incident occurred on the territory of Zugdidi District and within 500 meters from 310th block post of CIS peacekeeping troops.

It is indicated in the investigation materials that emergency cars, fire engine, TV journalists and representatives of Constitutional Security Department (CSD) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia were suspiciously moving in Khurcha just a few minutes before the actual incident. 

Abkhaz law enforcers visited the area. Not far from the place where the incident actually happened they found a trench, which had been dug by Georgian special divisions beforehand. The Abkhazians found a mobile telephone that belonged to Zamo Gabedava, the representative of CSD of MIA in the trench.

Vladimir Arlan: “You can tell by incoming and ongoing calls of the mobile phone that Gabedava had intensive contact with his head officials Roman Shamatava, Zurab Logua and Gia Baramia, the representatives of CSD of MIA within one hour before the bus was blown and shot up.”

Zurab Logua, the representative of CSD Abkhazeti Department denies that he had any connection with the Khurcha Incident whatsoever, let alone having had a telephone conversation with Zamo Gabedava. He calls the statements that Security Council from Sokhumi made as being absurd.

The Russian peacekeepers have been commenting on the incident since 22 May, 2008. Aleksandr Diodiev, assistant to the head of CIS peacekeeping forces was the first to comment o the incident. He stated that Georgian special services might somehow been involved in the Khurcha Incident. 

Aleksandr Diodiev: “The explosion of two buses in Khurcha might have been actually planned by Georgian Special Services. My allegations are based on the fact that the representatives of Georgian media had been on the crime scene before the shooting started.”

The CSD peacekeeping troops inform that at 2 p.m. on May 21, 2008 Russian soldiers spotted from block posts # 310 and # 209 gun shooting from north of Khurcha, 200 meters away from the settlement. They also inform that they heard someone had fired a grenade. The shooting lasted 15 minutes in duration.

The CIS and UN peacekeeping troops were mobilized in the neutral zone. This fact was noted by Russian military officers as well as Ruslan Kishmaria, private representative of Sergei Shamba in the Gali district.

Ruslan Kishmaria: “The representatives of CIS peacekeeping forces and UN Mission investigated the incident site. The situation in Gali district is stable. All law enforcing bodies are doing their jobs in a normal fashion. There have been no reported instances of illegal border crossings or other incidents.  Khurcha, the site where the buses were blown up, is under the control of Georgian government.”

While Russians and Abkhazians suspect that only the Georgians were involved in organizing this incident, Georgians themselves have many versions. Khurcha was the place from where the first suspects of an organized provocation came. Regardless, those inhabitants who live in the village of Khurcha village have interesting facts:

Shorena Toria: “Two men came to my neighbor; I did not see their faces. I only heard how they were asking Vardisha Esartia and her daughter, who are my neighbors to go to the football pitch where two buses were parked waiting to pick them up. I found out from their conversation that they wanted to organize as many people on site as possible. The intention was to film how Georgians living in Abkhazia were coming to Khurcha in order to participate in parliamentary elections. My neighbors went as instructed and within 5 minutes the shooting broke out, which was then followed by explosions: we were very frightened and tried to escape…” 

Vardisha Esartia: “I and my daughter told these two men that we had already been to the polling station and cast our votes. They told me: “We know that, but we are asking you to help us. We want to film the process, and there are journalists and camera persons already waiting for us.” We were not able to go to the football pitch as shooting had just broken out within a few minutes.”

Nani Kardava, principal of Nabakevi Secondary School was injured at the gates of Nazi Toria’s house. Blood traces can be seen even now at the wire fence and on the grass. A lot of spent cartridges were found in Nazi Toria’s yard.

One woman who is an inhabitant but who did not want to disclose her identity said that a few minutes before the explosion teachers from the Khurcha Secondary School had gone to the buses, and this was at the request of journalists and other strangers.

Nani Kardava was injured when there was an explosion. The police took her to Zugdidi Central Hospital just a few minutes later, Soon the football pitch was filled up with emergency vehicles, fire engines and Special Forces.  Several people panicked when shooting started again. However, in spite of their fear, and when the evacuation process started, the locals began to reveal some interesting information.

“We are tired of watching and participating in these shows and this looks more like a tragic comedy. We might be killed with a stray bullet but no one cares about us. Why do we need this evacuation? Whom are we escaping from? Are we escaping from our own police or from the Georgian government?! They think we do not know anything of what is going-on. Why was the dislocation place changed to the representatives of the Department of Special Tasks? Why were security and police forces mobilized in close proximity to Khurcha? Why the emergency response vehicles and fire engines arrived before the actual explosion? We already understood that journalists and the government had agreed on things ahead of time but we still cannot understand who is actually giving orders and calling the shots.”

“I remember January 5, 2008 presidential elections. Neither this time nor back in January did the Abkhazians close their block posts for us. Everyone is free to move back and forth. When the shooting started in Khurcha, Abkhaz soldiers in Nabakevi ran out of their barracks half dressed; they asked us what had happened,” stated a male resident from Nabakevi, a village in Abkhazia.

People who live near Georgian-Abkhazian administrative border recall the January 5, 2008 Presidential Day Election when TV-channels publicized videotapes with the River Juma scenes and told that it was the Enguri River.

“We have become accustomed to so many lies, when they show something that happened in village of Odishi, which is near Zugdidi and tell that it took place in Nabakevi. They do not surprise us with anything they do, and we did not revolt when we could not find any of acquaintances among those people who allegedly crossed river Enguri, and with great difficulty, as they wanted to participate in Georgian elections.”

People were shocked when they saw the scenes publicized on May 21, 2008. The Khurcha inhabitants recall that the conversation between Nani Kardava and Zaal Eliava amid the shooting, which was viewed as being the most emotional. Nani Kardava is the school principal and the head of village Nabakevi Village Administration appointed by the Abkhazian de facto government. Zaal Eliava is the governor of Nabakevi but he was appointed by Georgian government.

“We heard their conversation together as the sounds of shooting could be heard. The woman was injured lying on the ground. Eliava was hiding in a trench. They talked in Mengrelian. Kardava: “Thank you Zaal, thank you! Have you brought me here for this?” Eliava: “Do not be afraid. You won’t die!” Kardava: “I am already dead, Zaal!” Another woman was filmed as well, as she was trying to protect herself from the rain of bullets with an umbrella. There was also a man who approached the injured woman and called out to her in the Mengrelian language, which is not understandable for most Georgians: “You poor thing, where were going? You poor, poor thing” – this man helped the police officers to evacuate the injured woman.

Paata Zakareishvili considers that Khurcha incident was a staged event. “I am sure neither Nani Kardava, nor other people knew what the Georgian government had in mind. I think that they only found themselves there by happenstance. The same is true of the woman that was injured, and it was only by chance that she stayed alive. However, if she had died then it would have caused an even greater campaign then Khurcha incident itself. Nani Kardava’s action was naïve. Maybe they even had wanted to kill her but they failed.”

The two exploded buses have been since removed from the Khurcha football pitch. Iuri Kacharava and Mamuka Akhvlediani, drivers were both promised new buses by the Georgian government. Well, they disserved it… {for a job well-done}.