Anas Kishmaria addressed Inal Ardzinba and Mikhail Shurgalin in connection with the detentions
of the Abkhazian citizens at the checkpoint «Psou».
On February 6, 2024, the Ombudsperson for Human Rights in the Republic of Abkhazia sent
appeals to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia and the Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Abkhazia,
indicating the current trend and systematic detention of citizens when crossing the state border on
the Russian side of the checkpoint «Psou». The Ombudsperson noted that in addition to the public
reports of journalists Eleonora Giloyan, Inal Khashig, Emma Khojaa and social and political figure
Levan Mikaa, the Office of the Ombudsperson has the information on the other cases of the
Abkhazian citizens’ detention.
Anas Kishmaria appealed with a request to respond to such detentions to Inal Ardzinba as the
Minister of Foreign Affairs, who heads the government body of the Republic of Abkhazia, where
one of the main tasks is to protect the rights, freedom and interests of the Abkhazian citizens
abroad.
In her address to Ambassador Mikhail Shurgalin, the Ombudsperson enquires to pay attention to
the information on the Abkhazian citizens’ detention on the Russian side of the checkpoint «Psou»
and to provide assistance in clarifying the reasons.