TBILISI (Reuters) – A lawmaker in Abkhazia, a breakaway Georgian region supported by Russia, was shot dead at the parliament building, the region’s state news agency reported on Thursday.
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. Another lawmaker was also wounded.
Apsypress did not immediately report whether any suspect had been detained, or what the apparent motive of the shooting was.
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.
(Reporting by Felix Light; Editing by Peter Graff)
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