The Russian Investigative Committee has revealed who threatened Armenians during the elections in Abkhazia

The Investigative Committee of Russia announced the establishment of new facts of violation of citizens' rights during the presidential elections in Abkhazia.

"According to the data published in the media and the Internet, on February 19, in the settlements of the village of Tsandripsh, Gagra district, a group of several dozen people who arrived in approximately 20 cars exerted pressure on the heads of local rural settlements in order to persuade the local Armenian population to refuse to participate in the elections; among these persons, as a leader was Dima Ardzinba, as well as Masik Shakryl and other persons," reports RF IC.

Examinations, including linguistic ones, have been appointed as part of the inspection. The investigation has prepared a request for legal assistance. A procedural decision will be made based on the results of the verification activities.

As EADaily reported, on February 15, after the first round of elections, the opposition Abkhaz public pointed out that almost the entire Armenian population voted for the candidate Badru Gunba. Later, audio recordings appeared on social networks, possibly belonging to representatives of the opposition, which is headed by another candidate, Adgur Ardzinba. The person on the recording says that it is time for the Armenians to "point out the place", another recording contains a call for murder.

On February 16, the head of the Armenian community of Abkhazia, Alik Minosyan, appealed to the leadership of the republic with a demand to guarantee the protection of the Armenian population during the presidential elections.

According to him, "since the beginning of the election campaign, pressure has been exerted on the leaders of a number of villages where citizens of Armenian nationality live and threats have been made demanding that specific forces be supported."

On February 17, the official representative of the Russian Investigative Committee Svetlana Petrenko commented on the situation with threats in Abkhazia to citizens who also have Russian citizenship.

"A number of media outlets reported that persons acting in the interests of one of the presidential candidates of Abkhazia demanded that local residents, including those with Russian citizenship, support specific political forces. At the same time, threats of violence were made against citizens of Abkhazia and Russia of Armenian nationality," Petrenko said.

She stressed that in accordance with Part 3 of Article 12 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, foreign citizens who have committed a crime outside the Russian Federation are subject to criminal liability under the norms of Russian legislation if the crime is directed against a citizen of the Russian Federation.

In this regard, the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia instructed the Main Investigation Department to organize a procedural check on the fact of threats and violations of the rights of Russian citizens in Abkhazia.