Lawmaker shot dead in parliament in breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia

President’s press service said Vakhtang Golandzia was shot dead while another politician was hurt in the incident.

A politician has been shot dead and another wounded in a shooting inside the parliament of the Russia-backed breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia.

Abkhazia’s state news agency Apsnypress cited the health ministry as saying Vakhtang Golandzia had died of wounds sustained in a shooting at the parliament building on Thursday.

A statement from the press office of the acting president, Badra Gunba, also said: “After receiving fatal wounds, the deputy Vakhtang Golandzia has died.”

It added that another lawmaker, Kan Kvarchia, was hurt.

Apsnypress said the interior ministry had identified another lawmaker, Adgur Kharazia, as the suspect in the shooting, and that he had fled the scene. Its report did not give any indication as to a motive.

Russian news agencies quoted local sources also saying that another deputy had shot the two men.

A lush subtropical territory on the Black Sea coast, Abkhazia broke from Georgia’s control in a war after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, during which hundreds of thousands of ethnic Georgians fled.

Russia has long supported Abkhazia and another breakaway Georgian region, South Ossetia, and recognised them as independent after winning a five-day war with Georgia in 2008.

Abkhazia was plunged into crisis last month when protesters stormed the parliament in opposition to an investment agreement with Russia, forcing the region’s president, Aslan Bzhania, to resign. Deputies voted against ratifying the agreement earlier this month.

Opposition leaders in Abkhazia had strongly opposed the agreement over fears it would clear the way for wealthy Russian individuals and businesses to buy up property, pricing out locals.

Moscow, which heavily finances Abkhazia’s budget, wants Russian investors to be able to acquire property rights and to have the right to develop the region.