STATEMENT OF THE
PRESIDIUM OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL AND THE PRESIDIUM OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
OF THE ABKHAZ ASSR
On 4 July 1991 the Georgian TV
announced the text of the Decision of the Prosecutor General of the
The text demonstrates that Kapba
abused his office authority while discharging his duties as the Chairman of the
Central Electoral Commission on holding the Union Referendum, which was
conducted in Abkhazia on 17 March 1991.
He is blamed in issuing written permission to the citizens to vote in
the electoral precincts outside of voter’s place of residence. As the prosecutor reported, it was violation
of the law.
Denial of the CEC to
the dwellers of Gali District to participate in the Referendum is another
ground for prosecution of Kapba. The
text of the said Decision demonstrates that it was adopted through the gross
violation of the norms criminal-procedure and of the Penal Law of the
Firstly, the
aforementioned document is not a decision on launching the criminal prosecution
providing the ground for conducting the preliminary investigation. In fact, it is the decision on declaring
Kapba as a convicted already before the investigation.
Secondly, the crime
under article 187 of the Criminal Code of Georgia shall have the real
component, upon which the conduct of an official may be criminalized, when such
conduct causes the considerable damage to the state or public interests.
Evidently, the
investigation assumed that Kapba’s unlawful conduct entailed the distortion of
the Referendum results. But the
investigation had to have the relevant materials to make such conclusion. Georgian prosecutor had no such material and
he could not have it. He also had no
idea that all of these materials regarding the claims of the Georgian deputies had
been overviewed by the Procuracy of the
The applicants got the
answer about the results of revision, which states that no abuse or
falsification of the results were registered in the course of Referendum in
Abkhazia, and that there was no ground for annulment of the results.
The Union Procuracy had
checked all the arguments submitted by the deputies of the Supreme Council of
Georgia, including the denial of the Abkhaz CEC to holding the Referendum in
the Gali District. The performance of the
Commission has been found lawful in this episode too. It is notable that the decision on denial of
holding the Referendum was a collective decision, while the prosecution has
been launched against a single person.
Therefore, the Union
Procuracy, having all materials on the Referendum, made a decision that there
had been no violation of the law in holding the Referendum, while the Procuracy
of Georgia, which is still inferior to the Union Procuracy, made the decision
on falsification of results and launched the criminal prosecution, and although
had no materials at his disposal found Kapba guilty in a commission of a crime.
Being legally
unjustified this document demonstrates that it has a political aim, serving to
the destabilization of the situation in Abkhazia, and also to the discredit one
of the leaders of the republic.
It should be mentioned
that this is not the only attempt to violate the right of E.E. Kapba and defile
his authority as a public servant.
At the end of March of
1991, after announcing the Referendum results, Kapba’s apartment in
All the aforementioned
may lead to the conclusion that the authorities of the
After inter-ethnic
clash in 1989 the prosecutor Razmadze repeatedly stated in TV, radio and press
that he had the documents proving the fact that the clash had been inspired and
organized by the leading officials of Abkhazia; he even refereed to the names
of some of them.
As it is known, none of
those individuals have been prosecuted, either found liable in some other ways.
Prosecutor Razmadze’s
conduct is still biased.
The leadership of the
The citizens of
Abkhazia, who participated in the Referendum, were subjected to certain forms
of violent measures.
Against such background
the Procuracy of the Republic of Georgia has no right to decide the issue on
lawfulness of holding the Referendum in Abkhazia.
Proceeding form the
aforementioned, the Presidium of the Supreme Council and the presidium of the
Council of Ministers of the Abkhaz ASSR find that the Decision of the
Prosecutor General of the
Presidium of the
Supreme Council of the Abkhaz ASSR.
Presidium of the
Council of Ministers of the Abkhaz ASSR.
(Newspaper “Sovetskaya Abkhazia”, # 28, 16 July 1991)