PB >>7795605
Two days earlier…
https://eurasianet.org/protesters-occupy-abkhazia-presidential-offices-for-second-day
“ Demonstrations against the president have continued for a second day in Abkhazia, with several hundred protesters occupying the presidential administration building.
The crisis began on January 9, when a group of protesters stormed the administration building, forcing de facto president Raul Khajimba to flee. It appeared sparked by two separate controversies from the previous autumn: a contentious election for de facto president, and an unsolved triple murder.
In the election, the incumbent Khajimba narrowly won, but losing candidate Alkhas Kvitsinia contested the results. A hearing was held on January 9 to consider Kvitsinia’s complaint, and when the court temporarily adjourned and the participants were leaving the courthouse, they were accosted by a group of protesters led by an Abkhazian commander of the Russia-backed separatist forces in Ukraine, Akhra Avidzba, reported a journalist from RFE/RL who was covering the trial.
Avidzba – who said he had returned to Abkhazia only the day before and that the authorities had tried to arrest him while doing so – called on the opposition supporters to join his group, who were holding a protest at the nearby presidential administration building against the killing of three people in Sukhumi in November. A bodyguard for Khajimba has been arrested in connection with the attack, which killed two reputed organized crime leaders along with a waitress at the restaurant where they were attacked.
Soon protesters, who by then numbered several hundred, then broke into the building, breaking the windows, according to video taken at the scene. Khajimba was forced to flee to a government dacha.
Khajimba later issued a statement saying that, if necessary, he would institute a state of emergency. The parliament, meanwhile, approved a resolution calling on him to step down, which he rejected.
"Representatives from the opposition have repeatedly said that they will wait for the decision of the Supreme Court on the results of the election and act strictly within the legal framework. However, understanding the fact that their demands in court have no prospects, the opposition has decided to go ahead with radical methods," Khajimba said. Khajimba said he was willing to negotiate with opposition leaders to resolve the crisis.”